SMM August 18, SS futures showed a fluctuating trend. During the daytime session, it briefly dipped below the 13,000 yuan/mt level but gradually recovered by the close, finally stabilizing above the 13,000 mark. In the spot market, although some traders attempted to raise their quotes in the morning, downstream buyers were still reluctant to accept higher prices, resulting in limited actual transactions. Subsequently, as SS futures declined, the market was once again influenced, and by afternoon, prices had returned, remaining basically stable at last week's levels with relatively small fluctuations. Fundamentals remained largely unchanged, and the upward momentum of futures also appeared weak, leaving the stainless steel market in a stalemate.
In terms of futures, the most-traded contract 2510 was in the doldrums. At 10:30 AM, SS2510 was quoted at 13,025 yuan/mt, up 35 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The spot premiums and discounts for 304/2B in Wuxi ranged between 195-345 yuan/mt. In the spot market, cold-rolled 201/2B coils in both Wuxi and Foshan were quoted at 8,050 yuan/mt; cold-rolled 304/2B coils, on average, were 13,150 yuan/mt in Wuxi and 13,150 yuan/mt in Foshan; cold-rolled 316L/2B coils were 25,275 yuan/mt in Wuxi and 25,275 yuan/mt in Foshan; hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coils were 24,750 yuan/mt in both regions; and cold-rolled 430/2B coils were 7,350 yuan/mt in both Wuxi and Foshan.
Recently, social inventory of stainless steel has been declining, and continuous macro policy news has somewhat boosted the stainless steel market, leading to a stronger SS futures. At the beginning of last week, it broke through the previous 13,000 yuan/mt bottleneck, approaching 13,300 yuan/mt, which alleviated the earlier pessimistic sentiment, and transaction conditions gradually improved, with traders continuously raising their quotes. However, the market is still in the traditional consumption off-season, and there has not been a fundamental change in the fundamentals. Downstream acceptance of high prices remains limited, and transactions are still dependent on concessions from traders, causing futures prices to pull back and spot prices to decline. Overall, the recent recovery in the market is mainly due to strong macro news support, boosting overall futures, but the recovery in the spot market fundamentals is poor, and the market is still hesitant to accept high-priced goods, leading to price fluctuations. The market still faces significant uncertainty, and further attention should be paid to the introduction of new policies and the recovery of downstream demand.
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