Futures market drives spot market, stainless steel prices drop back slightly [SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review]
[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review: Futures Market Drives Spot Market, Stainless Steel Prices Drop Back Slightly] SMM reported on July 16 that the SS futures market showed a weakening and pulling back trend after surging in the morning, continuing the doldrums of the previous day. In the spot market, influenced by the morning's surge in the futures market, spot quotes remained strong as the previous day, but then began to weaken and pull back as the futures market declined. Coupled with the already sluggish high-priced transactions of stainless steel, spot quotes fell again. At present, due to production cuts by stainless steel mills, social inventory has not risen further, and the shipping pressure of stainless steel mills has also eased. However, downstream demand remains weak, and the spot market fundamentals are in a stalemate. The market is significantly influenced by the futures market. In the short term, the market is waiting for guidance from macro policies. In the futures market, the most-traded 2509 contract is in the doldrums. At 10:30 a.m., SS2509 was quoted at 12,710 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 110 to 310 yuan/mt. In the spot market, the cold-rolled 201/2B coils in Wuxi and Foshan were both quoted at 7,600 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. Despite the SS futures market...