Stainless steel scrap remains economically disadvantaged, with sluggish transactions and prices in the doldrums [SMM Weekly Review of Stainless Steel Scrap Market]

This week, the price of 304 stainless steel scrap off-cuts in east China pulled back, reaching 9,900-10,000 yuan/mt. In Foshan, the price of 304 stainless steel scrap off-cuts remained stable overall, reaching 9,650-9,950 yuan/mt. Currently, when calculated by raw material, the production cost of stainless steel produced entirely from stainless steel scrap is approximately 13,772.37 yuan/mt, while the production cost of stainless steel produced entirely from high-grade NPI is approximately 13,485.27 yuan/mt. This week, a steel mill in south China did not update its procurement price for stainless steel scrap.

This week, the price of high-grade NPI stopped falling and began to rebound. However, the stainless steel finished product market continued to weaken and decline further due to persistently weak demand, with the price of stainless steel scrap also following suit. Currently, the stainless steel industry is approaching the traditional consumption off-season, with already sluggish end-user demand in the downstream sector. Stainless steel enterprises are deeply mired in losses, and news of production cuts frequently circulates in the market. Meanwhile, stainless steel scrap has lost its economic advantage over high-grade NPI and is at a clear disadvantage in the competition for raw materials. Affected by this, market participants have become increasingly cautious in procuring stainless steel scrap, adopting a wait-and-see attitude, and overall transaction performance has been poor. On balance, it is expected that the price of stainless steel scrap will remain in the doldrums in the short term.