Posted on 14 Sep 2023
Chinese prices of 304-grade stainless steel assessed by Mysteel have tracked lower for the second week over September 5-12, and market sources blamed the price dips on weakened performance in stainless futures prices and end-users' persistently low demand for the grade.
As of September 12, the spot price of 304/2B 2mm stainless cold-rolled coil (CRC) in Wuxi, a top stainless trading hub in East China's Jiangsu, fell to Yuan 16,000/tonne ($2,194/t) in-warehouse and including the 13% VAT, down by Yuan 150/t on week, Mysteel's tracking showed.
Also, the spot price of 304/No.1 5mm stainless hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Wuxi slid by a larger Yuan 300/t from the prior week to settle at Yuan 15,000/t in-warehouse and including the 13% VAT by the same day.
Many stainless traders clipped their offering prices of 304-grade products recently after noting the falling stainless futures, a Shanghai-based market watcher observed.
The most-traded stainless contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for next month's delivery closed the daytime trading session lower at Yuan 15,425/t on September 12, down by a total of Yuan 385/t from the settlement price on September 5.
Meanwhile, "those traders also wanted to attract more buyers with their lower prices because the recent trading of 304 stainless steel remained bleak," the source added.
Now it is nearly halfway through September, a month in which stainless consumption is generally robust in China, but trading markets across the country have not yet seen any recovery in stainless buying, according to him, adding that the recent drops in 304 prices still failed to spur downstream users' buying of the grade.
Driven by cool trading, the total stocks of 300-series stainless CRC and HRC at commercial warehouses in Wuxi and Foshan in South China's Guangdong province under Mysteel's regular survey accumulated to 508,025 tonnes on September 7, rising for the second week by another 4,284 tonnes on week and higher by a significant 47% on year.
For the near-term prices of 304 stainless steel, the source projected a possible downtrend, citing the likely steady and high production among most stainless mills during this month plus little improvement in stainless demand.
Source:Mysteel Global
