Price trend
According to the price monitoring of SunSirs, the overall trend of stainless steel prices in August was weak. At the beginning of the month, the stainless steel price was 18,693.33 RMB/ton. At the end of the month, the stainless steel price fell slightly to 17,406.67 RMB/ton, an overall decrease of 6.88% and a year-on-year increase of 26.67%.
According to the monitoring data of SunSirs, the price trend of stainless steel and upstream nickel was the same, and the change of stainless steel price was slightly smaller than that of nickel.
Supply tension slowed down
The news of the cancellation of power curtailment in Guangxi has been reported in the market, and the current supply of steel mills has been gradually replenished. The supply of goods has been obviously replenished, and the shortage of supply has been eased.
Stainless steel exports declined
In July, domestic stainless steel exports fell sharply by 15.8% month-on-month. Among them, the number of hot rolled exports was only 84,700 tons, a decrease of 32.6% from the previous month. Foreign buyers are less willing to buy. Currently, China’s export quotations are higher than Indonesia’s, and there is no export advantage.
Demand declined
According to relevant statistics, China's total automobile manufacturing volume in July fell by 15.5% year-on-year, and the total volume of refrigerators and air conditioners manufactured in June fell 15.4% and 12.1% year-on-year respectively.
Market outlook
To sum up: the upstream nickel price fluctuates weakly, and domestic and foreign demand are relatively poor. Stainless steel has price but no buyers. In September, the traditional peak season arrives, and demand may increase, but the increase may be limited. Stainless steel is expected to maintain a narrow fluctuation trend in the short term.
