According to price monitoring by SunSirs, stainless steel prices experienced a slight decline last week. As of May 22, the daily average spot price for 304/2B stainless steel sheets (dimensions: 1.0 × 1219 × 2438 mm; tolerance: 0.91 mm) stood at 13,666.67 RMB/ton—a decrease of 1.09% from the beginning of the week, yet an increase of 11.63% year-on-year.

According to the price spread analysis tool from SunSirs, the price trends of nickel and stainless steel are similar.

Last week, total stainless steel inventories amounted to 1.123 million tons, with stocks of both cold-rolled and hot-rolled products recording a decline.

Raw Materials: The Indonesian nickel ore market remains in disarray, with pricing models diverging; specifically, the "benchmark price (HPM) plus premium" model and the "fixed-price" model are currently operating in parallel. Overall costs remain at elevated levels, yet there is insufficient upward momentum to drive further price increases. Meanwhile, nickel ore prices from the Philippines have shown a distinct weakening trend. The shortage of high-grade nickel pig iron (NPI) resources is becoming an increasingly prominent issue; trading activity is highly polarized, and the price spread between different grades of nickel iron has widened even further.

Supply and Demand: Supply-side recovery is proceeding steadily, with overall production scheduling for May expected to increase. According to statistics, domestic stainless steel mills produced 3.7471 million tons of crude steel in April 2026—a month-on-month decrease of 48,900 tons (1.29%)—while year-on-year output rose by 6.98%. For May, scheduled crude stainless steel production is projected at 3.7806 million tons, representing a month-on-month increase of 0.89% and a year-on-year increase of 9.17%. Demand recovery remains insufficient; overall operating rates among domestic downstream end-users are sluggish, the real estate sector and traditional manufacturing industries continue to show weakness, and actual purchasing power remains inadequate, although overseas demand demonstrates reasonable resilience.

Overall, market sentiment has improved amidst increased policy-related disruptions at the mining end, and fundamental cost support remains intact. However, ample supply—coupled with persistently weak demand—means that end-user uptake remains insufficient, and high inventory levels continue to exert pressure. Nevertheless, against the backdrop of improving expectations, prices are projected to fluctuate within a firm range in the short term.

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