Anticipated Tariff Easing Boosts Market Sentiment, Stainless Steel Market Awaits Price Increases [SMM Stainless Steel Spot Daily Review]

SMM reported on May 7 that news of China-US negotiations emerged, indicating an expectation of easing in the tariff war. Stimulated by this favourable macro front, SS futures quickly surged and strengthened after the opening of the daytime session. However, as no substantive tariff adjustment policies had been implemented, market confidence could not be sustained, and futures prices subsequently fluctuated downward and gradually pulled back. In the spot market, the brief strengthening of futures prices boosted market sentiment. Coupled with the release of restocking demand after the Labour Day holiday, spot quotes also surged. However, the acceptance of high-priced resources by downstream end-users remained insufficient, and market transactions were dominated by just-in-time procurement. It is worth noting that as restocking progressed after the holiday, the availability of low-priced cargoes decreased, which, to a certain extent, supported the firm performance of spot prices.

In the futures market, the most-traded 2506 contract surged and then pulled back. At 10:30 a.m., SS2506 was quoted at 12,750 yuan/mt, up 50 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. In the Wuxi region, premiums and discounts for 304/2B spot cargoes ranged from 370 to 570 yuan/mt. In the spot market, cold-rolled 201/2B coils in both Wuxi and Foshan were quoted at 8,050 yuan/mt. The average price of cold-rolled trimmed-edge 304/2B coils was 13,050 yuan/mt in Wuxi and 13,050 yuan/mt in Foshan. Cold-rolled 316L/2B coils were priced at 23,850 yuan/mt in Wuxi and 23,850 yuan/mt in Foshan. Hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coils were quoted at 23,050 yuan/mt in both regions. Cold-rolled 430/2B coils were priced at 7,500 yuan/mt in both Wuxi and Foshan.

Currently, the supply side of the stainless steel market continues to fluctuate at highs. Faced with the pressure of losses, producers have reduced the production of heavily loss-making 300-series stainless steel and instead increased the output of 200-series and 400-series products to optimize the steel grade structure. However, influenced by recent policy changes, market uncertainty has significantly increased. Downstream enterprises have generally adopted a cautious attitude, with increasingly conservative procurement behavior and persistently sluggish consumer demand. This supply-demand imbalance has become the main constraint on the current development of the stainless steel market.