SHANGHAI, Feb 25 (SMM) – Prices of #3-series stainless steel inched up and prices of #2- and #4-series held steady in China last week as the anticipation of consumption pick-up after the Lunar New Year holiday encouraged steel mills to hold offers firm.

This grew inventories of finished goods across some mills in the south and east.

A mill expected prices of #3-series cold-rolled stainless steel to climb to 16,500 yuan/mt.

SMM learned from distributors in Wuxi and steel mills in the east that the market remained bullish on hot-rolled stainless steel.

The downstream sectors of hot-rolled stainless steel stepped up operation after the holidays. Consumption of cold-rolled materials, however, has yet to fully recover.