SunSirs: Stainless Steel Prices Rose Slightly in July

Price trend

According to the price monitoring of SunSirs, the price of stainless steel rose slightly in July. As of the end of July, the spot price of stainless steel was 12,052.86 RMB/ton, up 2.33% from 11,778.57 RMB/ton at the beginning of the month and down 5.99% year-on-year.

Annual price comparison of stainless steel

A comparison chart of annual stainless steel prices over the past five years from SunSirs shows that stainless steel prices mostly fell in August.

On the raw material side, Indonesia planned to shorten the RKAB quota from three years to one year to better control nickel ore supply and support nickel industry chain prices. The market may trade in expectations of tighter nickel ore supply. However, Indonesia's RKAB quota approval has reached 360 million, and the usage in the first half of the year was only 120 million. In order to meet the mining output targets, the overall price-supporting mentality of mines may be weakened.

On the supply side, multiple departments have joined forces to rectify involutionary competition and eliminate backward production capacity, which has boosted stainless steel prices to a certain extent. The production schedule in July decreased slightly, and the reduction in production was less than expected. The production schedule in July was 3.268 million tons, a month-on-month decrease of 0.72% and a year-on-year decrease of 1.22%. In June, the estimated crude steel output of 43 domestic stainless steel plants was 3.3493 million tons, a month-on-month decrease of 113,600 tons, a decrease of 3.28%, and a year-on-year increase of 1.85%.

On the demand side, downstream consumption was in the off-season, home appliance production was declining, inventory digestion was slow, and there was a lack of upward drive.

Imports and exports, China's stainless steel imports from January to June 2025 totaled 827,500 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 25.3%; exports totaled 2,500,100 tons, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%. In June 2025, stainless steel imports were 109,500 tons, a month-on-month decrease of 15,600 tons (a decrease of 12.48%), and a year-on-year decrease of 21,800 tons (a decrease of 16.61%). Stainless steel exports were 390,000 tons, a month-on-month decrease of 46,400 tons (a decrease of 10.6%), and a year-on-year decrease of 62,900 tons (a decrease of 13.9%).

Stainless Steel Inventory

Stainless steel inventories fell slightly in July. As of the end of the month, stainless steel inventories totaled 1.1186 million tons, down 3.3% from the beginning of the month.

Future outlook:

In summary: the supply of stainless steel plants has decreased due to maintenance, but the reduction in production was less than expected, and normal production was maintained during the postponement period. The short-term market supply pressure is difficult to reduce. The terminal demand was relatively weak. The plum rain weather and continuous high temperature weather have slowed the recovery of manufacturing orders. Purchases are mainly based on rigid demand to replenish inventory. The bargaining space for traders has expanded but it is still difficult to increase the volume. It is expected that the price of stainless steel will be mainly consolidated in the short term.

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