The increase in stainless steel mill's list price drives the market inquiry to recover, and traders' quotes explore an increase [SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review]

Published: Jul 14, 2025 17:35

Save

[SMM Daily Stainless Steel Review: Stainless Steel Mill Futures Prices Increase, Driving Market Inquiries to Recover and Traders' Quotations to Rise] SMM reported on July 14 that the SS futures market opened lower but closed higher, with an overall strong and volatile trend throughout the day. In the spot market, the morning saw stainless steel mills raise the 316L futures price by 200 yuan/mt, while the 304 futures price remained stable. Affected by the futures market's correction last week, spot market transactions were slightly sluggish, and traders' quotations remained largely unchanged. In the afternoon, the stainless steel mill updated the 304 stainless steel futures price again, raising it by 100 yuan/mt. As the futures market strengthened in the afternoon, market activity increased, quotations rose, and low-priced supplies gradually diminished. Currently, the spot market is significantly influenced by the electronic futures market, with some traded supplies being used for arbitrage operations by traders in the futures market rather than flowing into end-use consumption. The actual demand recovery in the market still requires time. In the futures market, the most-traded 2508 contract strengthened. At 10:30 a.m., SS2508 was quoted at 12,700 yuan/mt, down 55 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. In the Wuxi region, the spot premiums/discounts for 304/2B stainless steel ranged from 120 to 320 yuan/mt. In the spot market, the cold-rolled 201/2B coils in Wuxi and Foshan were both quoted at 7,550 yuan/mt; the cold-rolled trimmed 304/2B coils had an average price of 12,750 yuan/mt in Wuxi and 12,750 yuan/mt in Foshan; the cold-rolled 316L/2B coils were priced at 23,700 yuan/mt in Wuxi and 23,700 yuan/mt in Foshan; the hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coils were both quoted at 23,200 yuan/mt in the two regions; the cold-rolled 430/2B coils in Wuxi and Foshan were both priced at 7,100 yuan/mt...

SMM reported on July 14 that the SS futures market opened lower but closed higher, with an overall trend of holding up well throughout the day. In the spot market, steel mills raised the 316L plate price by 200 yuan in the morning, while the 304 plate price remained stable. Affected by the previous week's futures market correction, spot market transactions were slightly sluggish, and traders' quotes remained largely unchanged. In the afternoon, steel mills updated the 304 stainless steel plate price again, raising it by 100 yuan/mt. Along with the strengthening of the afternoon futures market, market activity increased, quotes rose, and low-priced supplies gradually diminished. Currently, the spot market is significantly influenced by the electronic trading platform, with some transaction supplies being used for arbitrage operations by traders on the platform, rather than flowing into the end-use consumption sector. The actual recovery of market demand still requires time.

In the futures market, the most-traded contract 2508 strengthened. At 10:30 a.m., SS2508 was quoted at 12,700 yuan/mt, down 55 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The spot premiums/discounts for 304/2B stainless steel in the Wuxi area ranged from 120 to 320 yuan/mt. In the spot market, the cold-rolled 201/2B coil was quoted at 7,550 yuan/mt in both Wuxi and Foshan; the cold-rolled trimmed 304/2B coil had an average price of 12,750 yuan/mt in Wuxi and the same in Foshan; the cold-rolled 316L/2B coil was priced at 23,700 yuan/mt in Wuxi and the same in Foshan; the hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coil was quoted at 23,200 yuan/mt in both regions; and the cold-rolled 430/2B coil was priced at 7,100 yuan/mt in both Wuxi and Foshan.

Despite the stop falling and rebound of the SS futures market and the strengthening of prices,the fundamental situation of stainless steel spot market has not yet significantly reversed. Currently, the market is still in the traditional consumption off-season, with summer high temperatures further weakening some downstream demand. Although the previous news of production cuts by steel mills boosted market confidence and improved the sluggish transaction situation, the inventory pressure on stainless steel remains large.The in-plant inventory, front-end warehouse inventory, and social inventory of stainless steel mills are all at relatively high levels,and the inventory de-stocking speed is slow during the consumption off-season, delaying the repair process of the supply-demand relationship. Affected by expectations for production cuts by stainless steel mills, the procurement price of high-grade NPI has further declined, pushing down the cost support for stainless steel. In summary,the current stainless steel market is facing multiple pressures of large inventory, weak demand, and weakened cost support, and the repair of the supply-demand relationship still requires time.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

For any inquiries or to learn more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

16 hours ago

Before the holiday, the black chain is unlikely to see a trend-driven market [SMM Steel Industry Chain Weekly Report].

This week, ferrous metals were in the doldrums, with coking coal and coke staging a mid-week rise. At the beginning of the week, financial markets experienced sharp fluctuations, dragging down sentiment in the ferrous chain and leading to a pullback in futures. Mid-week, Indonesia's cut to coke production quotas drove coking coal and coke futures to lead the gains, though the impact was more pronounced on thermal coal, while coking coal's rise was largely sentiment-driven and short-lived. In the latter part of the week, finished products continued their seasonal inventory buildup, and support from the raw material side weakened, causing the entire ferrous chain to pull back. In the spot market, with the Chinese New Year holiday approaching, purchasing activity slowed down further, with end-users only making limited, as-needed purchases at low prices.

16 hours ago

MMi Daily Iron Ore Report (February 6)

Today, the DCE iron ore futures continued to hit bottom today, with the most-traded contract I2605 closing at 760.5 yuan/mt, down 1.23% from the previous trading day. Spot prices fell by 5–10 yuan/mt compared to the previous trading day.

16 hours ago

[SMM Chromium Daily Review] Inquiries and Transactions Weakened, Chromium Market Showed Mediocre Performance Before the Holiday

[SMM Chrome Daily Review: Trading and Inquiries Weakened, Chrome Market Showed Mediocre Performance Before the Holiday] February 6, 2026: Today, the ex-factory price of high-carbon ferrochrome in Inner Mongolia was 8,500-8,600 yuan/mt (50% metal content), flat MoM from the previous trading day...

16 hours ago