Posted on 13 Sep 2022
Inventories of finished stainless steel at commercial warehouses in Wuxi and Foshan, China's two core stainless trading hubs, posted a significant on-week fall of 10.7% to 521,357 tonnes over September 2-8, the lowest since late January, mainly thanks to the improvement in spot sales and the decrease in arrivals to surveyed warehouses, according to Mysteel's latest weekly survey.
Among the total, stainless stocks in Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province had emptied for the second week by a larger 11.9% on week against the on-week fall of 6.2% over the prior week, and the volume in Foshan in South China's Guangdong province had slipped for the fifth straight week by another 7% on week.
One major reason for the sharp on-week fall in stainless stocks was the improved demand this week, as many end-users had returned to the market for replenishment prior to China's Mid-Autumn Festival holiday (over September 10-12) to fulfil their immediate needs, Mysteel Global learned.
Meanwhile, "the increased list prices of major stainless mills also lifted the positive sentiment in Chinese market and stimulated the buying interest of downstream users," a market source in Wuxi said.
On September 7, Tsingshan Holding Group (Tsingshan), China's largest stainless producer headquartered in East China's Zhejiang province, announced to raise its list prices of 304-grade hot-rolled stainless coils to Yuan 15,700/tonne ($2,263/t) for October sales, higher by Yuan 300/t from its prices on September 5, according to Mysteel's survey.
Chinese stainless prices in both physical and futures markets strengthened this week, with the price of 304/2B 2mm stainless cold-rolled coil in Wuxi under Mysteel's assessment reaching Yuan 16,800/t in-warehouse and including the 13% VAT as of September 8, up Yuan 500/t on week.
On the same day, the most-traded stainless coil October contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed the daytime trading session at Yuan 16,505/t, higher by Yuan 1,095/t from the settlement price on September 1.
Besides, stainless products delivered to traders' warehouses also declined this week, contributing to the fast decrease in stainless inventories, Mysteel Global noted.
Over September 2-8, the tonnage of stainless products delivered to Wuxi and Foshan from Chinese mills registered 39,513 tonnes, lower by 11,261 tonnes from the previous week, according to Mysteel's other weekly survey.
Source:Mysteel Global
