Stainless Steel Inventory Slightly Increased by 0.06% WoW, 300 Series Cold-rolled Products Still Destocking but Expected to Increase Significantly Later [SMM Analysis]

As of November 21, SMM stainless steel social inventory reached 976,300 mt, a slight increase of 0.06% WoW. Among them, the inventory of the 200 series was 289,100 mt, up approximately 0.91% WoW; the inventory of the 300 series was 547,100 mt, down about 0.20% WoW; and the inventory of the 400 series was 140,100 mt, down about 0.67% WoW.

For the 200 series, the recent continuous decline in the price of 201 cold-rolled products and weak transactions led to poor shipment conditions for 200 series stainless steel. Resources from Chengde and Hongwang arrived in Wuxi, and cold-rolled resources from Lianzhong and Baosteel arrived in large quantities in Foshan, resulting in significant inventory buildup in both Wuxi and Foshan last week.

For the 300 series, the price of 304 stainless steel remained low last week, with a sharp decline at the beginning of the week stimulating transactions, leading to good spot shipments of coil. However, new arrivals of hot-rolled resources, mainly flat products, faced significant sales pressure. Additionally, shipments of 300 series cold-rolled from Indonesia and South China were mostly in the port unloading stage last week, not entering social inventory, resulting in an overall decrease in 300 series inventory. In Wuxi, cold-rolled resource inventory slightly decreased by 0.4%, while hot-rolled resource inventory increased by 1.1%. In Foshan, cold-rolled resource inventory decreased by 1.19%, while hot-rolled resource inventory increased by 0.6%.

For the 400 series, the arrival of 430 stainless steel in North China decreased last week. As it was not the month-end settlement week and the price of 430 remained stable, downstream made regular purchases, leading to a 1% decrease in inventory in Wuxi. In Foshan, due to the arrival of cold-rolled resources from South China, there was a slight inventory buildup of 0.1%.