Stainless Steel Profits Recover on a Fall in Raw Material Prices and Consumption Recovery

SHANGHAI, Mar 15 (SMM) - Overall stainless steel prices fell last week as the orders dropped again after a short-term recovery. The mills' overall profit margins declined accordingly. The cost of the RKEF process stood at around 17,187 yuan/mt, and that of the non-RKEF process was about 16,915 yuan/mt. Pure nickel prices crashed following the futures prices amid the frequent macro data release. The previously invisible inventory of NPI was gradually released into the market, arousing pessimism among market traders. Therefore, the traders dumped their goods, greatly dragging down the NPI prices. The overall stainless steel scrap prices also showed a downward trend. The imports of ferrochrome from South Africa surged, which may gradually ease the supply tightness in China and drag down the ferrochrome prices to a certain extent. The cost support to stainless steel prices weakened, while the consumption recovered slightly, which pushed up the profit margins of stainless steel mills. Many stainless steel mills planned to reduce production amid high in-plant inventories. It is expected that the prices of stainless steel will be stable with some downward potential this week. SMM expects that the profits of stainless steel mills will improve further this week.