Quotes of Stainless Steel in Steel Mills Dropped by 1,600-1,700 yuan/mt, and the Spot Market was Sluggish

SHANGHAI, Mar 14 (SMM) - SS contract fluctuated within a narrow range around 19,400 yuan/mt. Spot quotes in the market varied, and the spread was large. Tsingshan Group offered the guidance price of SS futures in April today. The quotation of #304 cold-rolled (width≈133.33 cm) was 19,300 yuan/mt and that of hot-rolled was 19,000 yuan/mt, which was significantly reduced by 1,600-1,700 yuan/mt compared with the quotations last week. Thus, the market began to wait and see. Besides, the nickel spot market and transportation were greatly influenced by the COVID-19. Therefore, the trading was slack. The spot quotations were higher than the futures guidance price in April. The spot prices of #304 cold-rolled coil stood at 19,600-20,000 yuan/mt, and the average price fell by 250 yuan/mt. The prices of #304 coils (deburred edge) stood firm at 20,600-21,800 yuan/mt. The prices of #304 hot-rolled coil stood at 19,400-19,600 yuan/mt, and the weekly average price dropped by 100 yuan/mt. As of 10:30 a.m., the SHFE SS 2204 contract stood at 19,380 yuan/mt, and the stainless steel spot premiums in Wuxi were 390-790 yuan/mt. (Spot price of deburred edge products = Spot price of burr edge products + 170 yuan/mt)