Posted on 19 Oct 2026
Total inventories of finished stainless steel in commercial warehouses in Wuxi and Foshan, China's two main stainless steel trading hubs, reversed down during the period of October 10-15 after the continuous rise over the prior two weeks, with the tonnage down 35,033 tonnes or 3.6% on week to 934,431 tonnes, according to Mysteel's weekly survey.
The survey covers 50 warehouses in Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province and 28 warehouses in Foshan in South China's Guangdong province.
During the latest survey period, stainless inventories moved down at the sampled warehouses in both Wuxi and Foshan, with the volume in Wuxi falling by a marked 4.9% on week, while that in Foshan also decreased by 1.5% from the prior week, the survey results showed.
Stainless products delivered to the sampled warehouses in trading hubs stayed relatively low during the survey period, contributing to the decline in total stainless inventories, Mysteel Global noted.
In parallel, spot transactions for stainless steel improved after the week-long National Day holiday, as some end users returned to the market for replenishment to fulfil their immediate needs. Meanwhile, many traders had to make some concessions in their offers to facilitate sales and reduce their stocks on hand amid the prevalent negative sentiment in the domestic stainless market.
Chinese stainless steel prices in both physical and futures markets lost ground in the first survey week after the holiday. The spot price of 304/2B 2*1240mm Hongwang stainless steel cold-rolled coil in Wuxi under Mysteel's assessment settled at Yuan 13,900/tonne ($2,077/t) in-warehouse and including the 13% VAT on October 15, slipping by Yuan 300/t on week.
The same day, the most-traded stainless steel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for delivery in December closed the daytime trading session at Yuan 13,175/t, lower by Yuan 315/t from the settlement price on October 8, according to the exchange's data.
The cost-side support for China's stainless market also weakened with the falling prices of major raw materials such as nickel pig iron (NPI). Mysteel assessed the price of high-grade NPI with 7-13% nickel content in Jiangsu at Yuan 1,045/mtu including delivery and the 13% VAT on October 15, slumping by Yuan 20/mtu from one week ago.
Source:Mysteel Global
