The stainless steel contract was under pressure last week. It reached a maximum of 15,710 yuan/ton in early trading on Monday. The closing price of that day was 90 yuan/ton higher than the previous day. It started to fall last Tuesday. As of last Thursday, the futures price was 15,410 yuan. /ton closed, down 2.159% month-on-month. Overall positions and trading volume increased during the week. Both long and short positions increased. The initiative of short parties to increase positions was more obvious, and there was a strong bearish sentiment towards the market outlook. In terms of news, during the week, steel mills in East and South China announced maintenance and production reductions. Production in September is expected to decrease by 91,500 tons, which may ease the downstream sentiment of profit-making and shipping. From the spot market, the arrival of 300 series in Wuxi&Foshan this week has slightly accumulated inventory. The inventory in Wuxi&Foshan has increased by 4.87% month-on-month. The main reason is that the price of stainless steel has continued to fall, downstream procurement has a wait-and-see attitude, and the market demand side feedback is not as expected. In terms of cost, although the price of NPI fell slightly during the week, the cost support is still strong, and the price of NPI is expected to remain stable in the short term. The price of high-carbon ferrochromium has been running smoothly during the week, and iron mills have a strong willingness to raise prices. It is expected that the short-term ferrochromium price will still maintain the current price. To sum up, SMM believes that cost support will remain strong next week, buyer sentiment will continue, and the stainless steel contract will fluctuate downward next week.
Written by SMM Nickel Research, if you have any questions about the nickel market, please don't hesitate to talk with me Fancyli@smm.cn
