Another Investment Plan between SAIL & Krakatau Steel

[SMM Analysis] Off-season Stainless Steel Prices and Costs Fluctuate Limitedly, Steel Mill Profits Basically Stable This week, stainless steel finished product prices remained stable, while production costs edged up slightly but with limited gains, resulting in basically stable overall smelting profits at steel mills. Based on 304 cold-rolling calculations, this week’s profit margins stood at 2.01% when using current raw materials and 2.15% when using inventory raw materials, indicating that stainless steel mills still retained certain smelting profits. On the nickel raw material side, high-grade NPI prices rose and strengthened this week. Shipment disruptions of Indonesian high-grade NPI, combined with month-end restocking purchases by some stainless steel mills and relatively optimistic market expectations for forward NPI prices, drove the price increase. Although mainstream stainless steel mills currently hold sufficient nickel pig iron raw material inventories and spot purchases remained weak, forward order transactions recovered significantly, pushing prices higher. As of this Friday, the delivered duty-paid price of Indonesia-origin high-grade NPI with 10-12% nickel content in China rose by 4 yuan/nickel unit to 1,136.5 yuan/nickel unit. Stainless steel scrap prices remained stable this week, with limited impact from futures consolidation and a slight recovery in NPI. Compared to nickel pig iron, the economic advantage of stainless steel scrap became more apparent, providing solid bottom support for prices; expectations of steel mill production resumptions in August also lent positive support. However, narrow profit margins at steel mills and weak end-use demand made cost pass-through difficult, significantly capping the upside room for prices. Overall, in the short term, stainless steel scrap will maintain a consolidating pattern supported by cost advantages and production resumption expectations, with limited overall upside room. As of this Friday, mainstream 304 off-cuts in the Shanghai area rose by 200 yuan/mt to 10,450 yuan/mt. Chromium-based raw materials…

[SMM Stainless Steel Scrap Market Weekly Review] Cost Advantages Underpin Stainless Steel Scrap Market, End-Use Demand Weakness Restrains Short-Term Upside Room This week, 304 stainless steel scrap off-cuts prices in east China were flat, with a quotation range of 10,400-10,500 yuan/mt; in the Foshan area, 304 stainless steel scrap off-cuts prices remained stable in tandem, within a price range of 10,300-10,600 yuan/mt. From a raw material cost analysis perspective, the current cost of producing stainless steel entirely with stainless steel scrap is about 14,607.48 yuan/mt, while that with high-grade NPI is as high as 14,995.22 yuan/mt, with the two maintaining a stable cost price spread. This week, stainless steel scrap prices remained generally stable. During the week, SS futures showed a consolidation pattern of first declining and then rising, and the fluctuations in futures did not provide clear guidance for the spot market. Stainless steel product spot prices consolidated in tandem, with overall prices basically flat compared to last week. At month-end, stainless steel mills initiated a tender for high-grade NPI procurement, driving NPI prices to rebound slightly, but the extent of the increase was relatively limited, and the upward support from the raw material side was weak, keeping the overall stainless steel scrap market stable. Along with the slight recovery in high-grade NPI prices, the cost advantage of stainless steel scrap relative to it has increased, further highlighting its cost substitution competitiveness and forming solid bottom support for scrap prices. Overall, costs and expectations provided support, but end-use fundamentals continued to suppress the market's upward trend. As some stainless steel mills gradually wrap up previous production cuts and maintenance, the market expects stainless steel production to rebound in August, corresponding rigid demand for stainless steel scrap is expected to increase, combined with the current scrap...

[SMM Analysis] SS Futures Consolidation and Supply Recovery Amid Weak Off-Season Demand Lead to Slight Stainless Steel Inventory Buildup SMM July 30 news: This week, stainless steel social inventory continued to build up, edging slightly higher as the supply-demand surplus during the off-season remained evident. Total inventory in the two core markets of Wuxi and Foshan edged up from 929,900 mt on July 23, 2026, to 930,600 mt on July 30, up 0.08% WoW, maintaining a mild accumulation trend with the overall buildup relatively manageable. This week, the market was in the traditional consumption off-season, while high temperatures constrained downstream processing and construction activities, keeping terminal rigid demand persistently weak. During the week, SS futures fell first and then rose amid macro influences, consolidating in a range. The repeated fluctuations in futures deepened the wait-and-see sentiment in the spot market, with downstream users only purchasing on a rigid demand basis and no concentrated restocking taking place. Transactions remained mediocre and inventory digestion was slow. Marginal supply-side easing was the main reason for the inventory buildup, as steel mills that had previously undergone maintenance gradually resumed production, and industry operating rates steadily recovered. August production is expected to increase, with incremental supply being released. Weak off-season demand struggled to absorb the additional supply, exacerbating the supply-demand mismatch and driving a slight accumulation in social inventory. Overall, the off-season combined with high temperatures led to weak terminal rigid demand and sluggish transactions, which were the core factors behind the inventory buildup. Meanwhile, steel mill production resumptions and recovering supply further compounded the supply-demand surplus. Futures consolidation only briefly affected market sentiment, unable to trigger sustained restocking or reverse the off-season inventory buildup trend. Currently, off-season fundamentals dominated the market, with tepid demand recovery and steadily increasing supply leaving inventory under pressure…