Posted on 09 Mar 2023
Chinese prices of 304-grade stainless steel under Mysteel's assessment stayed weak during February 28-March 7, mainly dragged by the negative sentiment that prevailed in the market at that time, according to market sources.
As of March 7, the spot price of 304/2B 2mm stainless cold-rolled coil (CRC) in Wuxi, a top stainless trading hub in East China's Jiangsu province, had dropped to Yuan 17,400/tonne ($2,498/t) in-warehouse and including the 13% VAT, losing Yuan 50/t on week, Mysteel's survey showed.
Similarly, the spot price of 304/No.1 5mm stainless hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Wuxi slipped by Yuan 200/t from the prior week to settle at Yuan 16,550/t in-warehouse and including the 13% VAT by March 7.
The most-traded stainless contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for delivery next month closed the daytime trading session at Yuan 16,190/t on March 7, down by Yuan 325/t from the settlement price on February 28, the exchange's data showed.
"After seeing the decline in stainless futures prices, many traders became more eager to sell their 304 stocks, so they further cut their offering prices," a Shanghai-based market watcher observed.
"Those traders' sentiment had been low already, dampened by the slow consumption of their stainless stocks," the source said.
The recovery in spot trading of most series of stainless steel after the Chinese New Year holiday was below the market's previous expectation, and this plus stainless mills' resumed production resulted in high stocks of stainless steel among mills and traders, as reported.
Mysteel's weekly tracking showed that the total stocks of 300-series stainless CRC and HRC at commercial warehouses in Wuxi and Foshan in South China's Guangdong reached 723,468 million tonnes during February 24-March 2 after the on-week dip of 10,169 tonnes, yet still being 51% higher on year.
In addition, although some mills have planned to conduct maintenance on their production facilities this month due to the high stainless stocks, the prices of 304-grade may continue to face pressure from high stocks and slide further, according to him.
Source:Mysteel Global
