Spot Stainless Steel Prices may be Stable with Occasional Falls

SHANGHAI, May 4 (SMM) - Spot #304 stainless steel prices fell about 350 yuan/mt last week. A stainless steel mill in east China further reduced its HRC shipments to the market, and a mill in the south slowed down its spot shipments to the south China market, tightening the overall spot stainless steel supply last week. As of last Thursday, a certain amount of spots were still in transit, which are expected to flow into the market after the Labour Day holiday. The downstream companies were less willing to restock though some stainless steel mills have informed that they would not ship CRC to the market during the Labour Day holiday. Prices of high-grade NPI fell somewhat during the week. Recently, the stainless steel mills have slightly raised their NPI purchase prices, but the traders did not wish to ship their cargoes. It is expected that the NPI prices will remain stable in the short term. The prices of ferrochrome rose slightly. The bid price for May disclosed by stainless steel mills stood flat from the previous month, soothing the bearish ferrochrome plants and further boosting the ferrochrome production. The chrome ore prices also grew further. It is expected that the prices of high-carbon ferrochrome will stabilise in the short term. Prices of stainless steel experienced a short-term fall last week. SMM believes that the spot prices of stainless steel may be stable with occasional falls this week with the growing market supply.