[NPI Daily Review] The Market Was Mainly Driven by Restocking to Meet Immediate Needs; High-Grade NPI Prices Held Steady

Published: Mar 3, 2026 14:32

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[SMM Daily Review: The Market Was Mainly Driven by Rigid-Demand Restocking, and High-Grade NPI Prices Held Steady] News on March 3: The upstream sentiment factor for SMM high-grade NPI was 2.86, up 0.01 MoM, and the downstream sentiment factor for high-grade NPI was 1.29, up 0.01 MoM.

SMM News on March 3:

On March 3, the SMM high-grade NPI market sentiment factor was 2.07, flat MoM; the high-grade NPI upstream sentiment factor was 2.86, up 0.01 MoM; and the high-grade NPI downstream sentiment factor was 1.29, up 0.01 MoM. Cost side, most upstream offers were flat MoM, and the bottom was still supported by costs. Demand side, with the Lantern Festival not yet over, downstream had not yet seen a large release of procurement demand, and the market only had a small amount of rigid-demand restocking. Overall, high-grade NPI prices were flat MoM, and downstream was waiting to see finished stainless steel prices; the current upstream and downstream analysis still exists.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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