MYSTEEL: China’s stainless stocks dip, prices softening
Over March 21-27, total stocks held by traders in Wuxi and Foshan slipped by another 22,472 tonnes or 3.2% on week to 688,528 tonnes. Among the total, stainless stocks held by traders in Wuxi, a key stainless trading hub in East China’s Jiangsu province, witnessed a larger week-on-week decrease of 2.3% from the prior week’s 0.8% dip to register 395,356 tonnes as of March 27. In parallel, stocks in Foshan, the other stainless trading hub in South China’s Guangdong province, declined at the same steady pace, dipping by 4.3% on week to 293,168 tonnes during the same period, Mysteel’s latest weekly survey showed.
The continuous decrease showed that buyers have been digesting the high stainless stocks thanks to downstream stainless users restarting business. However, stainless demand in the domestic market is not so strong for the moment as most buyers are opting to purchase based on their demand rather than for the purpose of building up stocks, now that stainless prices have been trending downward, Mysteel Global notes.
Thus, some domestic traders have had to make some concessions in their selling prices to attract buyers, as “high-priced products are hard to be accepted by buyers amid the dull market,” a market source in Shanghai commented.
China’s stainless market has been struggling of late, with the price of 304/2B 2mm stainless cold rolled coil in Wuxi refreshing a 33-month low to reach Yuan 13,150/tonne ($1,853/t) in-warehouse and including the 13% VAT as of March 27, losing another Yuan 200/t on week, according to Mysteel’s data.
Stainless exports also face a great challenge in the near term at least as the outbreak of COVID-19 in many countries and regions has forced many local department stores and retail outlets to close temporarily to combat the spread of the virus, which propelled many end users including cookware producers, to cut their orders for stainless steel, Mysteel Global learned.
Written by Nancy Zheng, zhengmm@mysteel.com
Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com
Stainless Stocks in Wuxi and Foshan of China (unit: tonne)
Warehouse |
CRC |
WoW(%) |
HRC |
WoW(%) |
Total |
WoW(%) |
Wuxi |
214,644 |
1.91% |
180,712 |
-6.91% |
395,356 |
-2.32% |
Foshan |
114,679 |
-8.83% |
178,489 |
-1.1% |
293,168 |
-4.27% |
Note: The data include 200-series, 300-series, and 400-series with the traders.
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