SS Contract Prices Keep Dropping last Week

SHANGHAI, Feb 13 (SMM) - SS contract prices trended lower last week. The US non-farm payrolls released by the US Department of Labor last Friday night far exceeded market expectations, and the Fed may keep hiking the interest rate in the future, which will suppress commodity prices to a certain extent. On the supply side, a stainless steel mill in east China shipped excess goods to the market. On the demand side, cold-rolled coil transactions were poor since the terminal companies received less-than-expected orders. There is still a short-term mismatch between supply and demand. Social inventory has been digested slowly but was still at a high level, putting pressure on futures prices. The prices of high-grade NPI remained stable. A small amount of nickel ore might have been traded at high prices. The overall nickel ore prices are expected to edge higher slightly. Besides, some NPI plants carried out maintenance, which may have a certain impact on the NPI supply. Stainless steel mills may still be more cautious in purchasing, and the game between upstream and downstream is relatively vehement. It is expected that the prices of NPI will stay stable in the short term. The prices of high-carbon ferrochrome were also steady last week. And ferrochrome plants in north China can gain some profits at present. The peak season of stainless steel sector has not yet arrived, thus the downstream companies are cautious in restocking. It is difficult for the ferrochrome market to see transactions at high prices in the near future. SMM believes that ferrochrome prices will be stable. In general, the SS contract prices kept falling amid the high inventory. And the cost support may gradually become strong. SMM believes that the SS contract prices may drop slowly this week.