Significant Decrease in Stainless Steel Arrivals, 300-Series Social Inventory Down 1.4% [SMM Analysis]

As of November 7, SMM total social inventory of stainless steel was 978,200 mt, down approximately 1.17% WoW. Among them, the inventory of 200-series stainless steel was 284,600 mt, down approximately 0.7% WoW; the social inventory of 300-series stainless steel was about 553,700 mt, down approximately 1.4% WoW; and the social inventory of 400-series stainless steel was about 140,000 mt, down approximately 0.25% WoW.

200-Series: Recently, overall arrivals at stainless steel mills have been relatively small, with the main reduction in Wuxi being hot-rolled resources from South China. Both hot and cold-rolled stainless steel saw some destocking, with an overall destocking of 1.54% in Wuxi. In Foshan, some stainless steel mills had significantly reduced 200-series production or switched production to 400-series earlier, maintaining a small number of arrivals and distribution this week. However, cold-rolled sales were poor, resulting in a relatively small degree of destocking, with an overall destocking of 0.92% in Foshan.

300-Series: This week, truck arrivals in Wuxi were normal, but port arrivals were relatively small, leading to an overall decrease in supply. In Foshan, hot-rolled arrivals decreased significantly, with only some resources from South China flowing normally. Additionally, due to macro factors, futures prices fell several times, driving down spot prices and stimulating market demand. As a result, sales were good this week, with a destocking of 1.09% in Wuxi and 1.84% in Foshan.

400-Series: In Wuxi, 400-series arrivals remained normal this week, with moderate sales and relatively small inventory fluctuations. Poor hot-rolled sales combined with relatively high arrivals led to a slight accumulation of inventory, keeping the overall inventory in Wuxi basically flat. In Foshan, the concentrated arrival cycle ended, and downstream maintained restocking as needed, resulting in good destocking this week, with the 400-series inventory in Foshan down 1.03% WoW.