Price trend
According to the price monitoring of SunSirs, the price of stainless steel had slightly decreased this week. As of October 25th, the daily average price of spot 304/2B stainless steel flat plate 1.0 * 1219 * 2438 (tolerance 0.91) was 12,721.43 RMB/ton, a decrease of 1.33% from the beginning of the week and a year-on-year decrease of 6.26%.
According to the price difference analysis tool of SunSirs, the prices of nickel and stainless steel were basically similar, and the price of stainless steel fluctuated with the rise and fall of nickel prices.
Analysis review
This week's stainless steel inventory totaled 103.09 tons, an increase of 1.13% compared to last week, with both cold and hot rolled inventory rising.
From an upstream perspective, the premium for domestic trade of medium to high-grade nickel mines in Indonesia remained at around 22 US dollars per wet ton. However, the recent joint venture between Eramet and Qing Shan Group's nickel mine PT Weda Bay Nickel had once again passed the 16 million ton nickel mine quota, indicating that the progress of Indonesian nickel mine RKAB may accelerate. In terms of nickel iron, there were rumors in the market that nickel iron manufacturers will hold a meeting to decide on a price hike, but the subsequent price of nickel iron will still depend on demand and the supply of nickel ore.
From the supply side, the production scheduling of stainless steel plants was still at a high level, and the downstream replenishment efforts are limited. This week, social inventory continues to accumulate, with a cumulative range of 1.13%.
Market outlook
In summary, rumors of nickel iron rising prices had provided support for stainless steel prices. However, due to high supply and limited downstream inventory replenishment, social inventory continued to accumulate, and the tight supply of nickel ore in Indonesia is expected to ease. It is expected that stainless steel prices will mainly fluctuate within a certain range.
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