According to the price monitoring of SunSirs, stainless steel rose slightly this week. As of February 18, the daily average price of spot 304/2B stainless steel flat 1.0*1219*2438 (tolerance 0.91) was 17,681.67 RMB/ton, compared with the price of 17,398.33 RMB/ton at the beginning of the week, it rose 1.63% and was up 26.15% year-on-year.
Analysis review
According to the price data of SunSirs, both spot stainless steel and upstream spot nickel prices were on the rise this week.
Supply and demand: London Nickel continued to remove inventory, inventory was at a two-year low level, and tight supply and demand supported nickel prices. The demand for new energy is improving and the new production capacity of stainless steel has boosted the demand for nickel. The production of ferronickel and high nickel matte in Indonesia may ease the contradiction between supply and demand to a certain extent. This week, the social inventory of 300 series cold rolling in Foshan and Wuxi has increased, and there are many new stainless steel production capacity this year. With the increase in the arrival of resources, the market demand has gradually slowed down. Inquiries and transactions are mainly based on low-priced resources, but the number is limited.
Market outlook
To sum up: After the holiday, the stainless steel spot market continued to strengthen, and with the stainless steel futures closing down, the market sentiment declined. However, the price of nickel is relatively strong, and the slow recovery of demand is supported. It is expected that the price of stainless steel will be stable and tend to volatile in the short term.
