Price trend

According to the price monitoring of SunSirs, the trend of stainless steel fluctuated within a narrow range this week. As of September 23, the daily average price of spot 304/2B stainless steel flat plate 1.0*1219*2438 (tolerance 0.91) was 17,362.5 RMB/ton, down 0.07% from 17,375 RMB/ton at the beginning of the week and down 21.22% year-on-year.

According to the spread analysis tool of SunSirs, the price of nickel has fluctuated greatly recently, while the price of stainless steel has been relatively flat.

Analysis review

This week, stainless steel inventories totaled 717,000 tons, up 0.42% from last week. Among them, cold-rolled and hot-rolled inventories both rose.

In terms of supply, 40 domestic mills initially scheduled production of 2.468 million tons of crude steel in September, which is expected to increase by 7.5% month-on-month. In the early stage, steel mills continued to reduce production and stainless steel transactions were hot. At present, there are few available spot in the market.

In terms of demand, social inventories returned to the accumulated stock this week, but the rising cost of upstream nickel supported the spot price. The National Day holiday on October 1 was approaching, and traders had a strong willingness to support prices. Some end users began to inquire and stock up, but the transactions were more limited. The reduction of overseas stainless steel production might boost domestic stainless steel export demand, but in August, exports were poor and imports rebounded.

Market outlook

To sum up, there is currently no major change in the supply side. The main driving factor for the current stainless steel price is the uncertainty brought about by the consumer side and Indonesian policies. As the traditional peak consumption season approaches, the future stainless steel may fluctuate to be strong.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact SunSirs with support@sunsirs.com