The off-season in June starts with a sluggish market, with high inventory of stainless steel and weak transactions [SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review]
[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review: Sluggish Start to Off-Season in June, High Stainless Steel Inventory and Sluggish Transactions] SMM reported on June 6 that today, the SS futures market continued to be in the doldrums. This week marks the first week after the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, coinciding with the traditional consumption off-season for stainless steel in June, resulting in a gloomy market atmosphere. During the holiday, news of price cuts by stainless steel mills exacerbated market pessimism. This week, spot transactions remained sluggish, with downstream players adopting a cautious wait-and-see attitude, and only just-in-time procurement remained active. Market monitoring indicated a significant increase in social inventory at major distribution centers such as Foshan and Wuxi during the week, due to high arrivals and slow shipments, leading to severe inventory backlogs. Traders faced increased pressure to sell, and despite actively offering discounts and adjusting prices, the market response was tepid, with no improvement in transactions. In the futures market, the most-traded 2507 contract was in the doldrums. At 10:30 a.m., SS2507 was quoted at 12,700 yuan/mt, up 10 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. In the Wuxi region, the spot premiums/discounts for 304/2B stainless steel ranged from 420 to 620 yuan/mt. In the spot market, the cold-rolled 201/2B coils in Wuxi and Foshan were both quoted at 7,850 yuan/mt; the average price of cold-rolled trimmed 304/2B coils was 13,050 yuan/mt in Wuxi and 13,050 yuan/mt in Foshan; the cold-rolled 316L/2B coil was quoted at 24,050 yuan/mt in Wuxi and 24,050 yuan/mt in Foshan; the hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coil was quoted at 23,350 yuan/mt in both regions; the cold-rolled 430/2B coils in Wuxi and Foshan were both quoted at 7,500 yuan/mt. Currently, the stainless steel market has fully entered the predicament of the traditional consumption off-season, with downstream demand remaining persistently sluggish...