WEEKLY: China austenitic stainless prices lead market decline

Prices of the widely-traded austenitic series stainless steel plunged across China's major trading hubs last week. The drop, ignited by a sharp correction in derivative futures in Shanghai, has caused inventories to grow slightly, Mysteel Global notes.

The most-traded stainless steel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed the daytime session on February 6 at Yuan 13,755/tonne ($1,982/t), lower by as much as Yuan 385/t on week. This futures-driven pessimism rapidly infected spot markets. On the same day in the major trading hub of East China's Wuxi,