[SMM exclusive] in March, the PMI composite index of the stainless steel industry was well above the line of prosperity and decline, but in April it was dragged down by demand or fell back below the line of prosperity and decline.

The total inventory of rebar across social warehouses and steel makers in China stood at 12.04 million mt as of March 31, down 43,400 mt or 0.4% on the week, and down 3.55 million mt or 22.8% from the same period last year.

At present, there are 24 iron and steel joint enterprises in Shanxi, China. In 2021, the pig iron output was 59.884 million mt, a year-on-year decrease of 1.6%; Crude steel output was 67.407 million mt, up 1.6% year-on-year; The output of steel products was 61.739 million mt, which was basically the same as that of the previous year.

The total inventory of construction steel across social warehouses and steel makers in China stood at 12.08 million mt as of March 24, up 43,000 mt or 0.4% on the week, and down 3.51 million mt or 22.5% from the same period last lunar year.

The Lisbon-based International Nickel Study Group (INSG) released data on Monday March 21, showing that in January 2022, the global nickel market was oversupplied by 6,000 mt, while there was a supply shortage of 5,300 mt in the same period last year.

This is a roundup of China's metals weekly inventory as of March 18.

Under the influence of the increasingly severe pandemic, the epidemic prevention policy in domestic ports was strict, while the unloading capacity of terminals was restricted and the efficiency of cargo handling was reduced.

Zinc prices constantly hit new highs in March under the support of rising natural gas and electricity prices in the Europe amid energy supply concerns caused by geopolitical tensions.

According to sources, Indonesian President Jokowi admitted that the ban on raw ore export had not been without challenges, as the European Union (EU) has filed a lawsuit against Indonesia’s nickel ore export ban at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Today, the spot prices of all series of stainless steel products in Foshan stood flat today. The average price of the 300 series product was around 18,000 yuan/mt. The market received a large number of goods last week, while the demand failed to keep up. The downstream users continued to purchase on rigid demand after the prices rebounded slightly yesterday.

The copper inventories in the domestic bonded zones increased 16,200 mt from December 31 to 203,500 mt as of Friday January 7. The inventory rose more quickly.