Futures Decline Drags Down Spot Stainless Steel, Destocking Pace Slows [SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review]

Published: Aug 21, 2025 21:49

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[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review: Futures Decline Drags Down Spot, Stainless Steel Destocking Pace Slows] SMM August 21st report, SS futures showed a further pullback. The decline in futures has not yet stopped, with an overall trend of fluctuating downward during the day, and prices mostly remained below 12,800 yuan/mt. In the spot market, influenced by the continuous decline in futures, the spot market was also dragged down. The wait-and-see sentiment among downstream customers became more evident, with only just-in-time procurement being maintained. As month-end approaches, traders face pressure to sell, leading to more discounting, but overall transaction volumes remain low. This week, social inventory decreased further, down 0.02% WoW to 933,400 mt. On the futures side, the most-traded 2510 contract was in the doldrums. At 10:30 am, SS2510 was quoted at 12,790 yuan/mt, down 20 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. In Wuxi, the spot premiums/discounts for 304/2B were in the range of 310-510 yuan/mt. In the spot market, Wuxi cold-rolled 201/2B coils were quoted at 8,000 yuan/mt; cold-rolled 304/2B coils, with average prices of 13,050 yuan/mt in both Wuxi and Foshan; cold-rolled 316L/2B coils, 25,475 yuan/mt in both Wuxi and Foshan; hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coils, 24,900 yuan/mt in both locations; and cold-rolled 430/2B coils, 7,350 yuan/mt in both Wuxi and Foshan. Recently, stainless steel social inventory has been declining continuously, coupled with macro policies...

SMM reported on August 21 that the SS futures pulled back further. The decline in futures prices had not yet stopped, with an overall trend of fluctuating downward during the day, and price volatility was quite intense, with prices mostly below 12,800 yuan/mt. In the spot market, influenced by the continuous decline in futures, the spot market was also dragged down, and downstream customers' wait-and-see sentiment became more evident, only maintaining just-in-time procurement. As month-end approached, traders faced pressure to sell, leading to more discounting, but overall transaction volumes remained poor. During the week, social inventory decreased further, down 0.02% WoW to 933,400 mt.

In the futures market, the most-traded 2510 contract was in the doldrums. At 10:30 am, SS2510 was quoted at 12,790 yuan/mt, down 20 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. In Wuxi, the spot premiums/discounts for 304/2B were in the range of 310-510 yuan/mt. In the spot market, Wuxi cold-rolled 201/2B coils were all quoted at 8,000 yuan/mt; cold-rolled 304/2B coils, with average prices in Wuxi and Foshan both at 13,050 yuan/mt; Wuxi cold-rolled 316L/2B coils at 25,475 yuan/mt, and Foshan at 25,475 yuan/mt; hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coils, with both regions quoting 24,900 yuan/mt; and cold-rolled 430/2B coils in both Wuxi and Foshan at 7,350 yuan/mt.

Recently, stainless steel social inventory has been declining continuously, and ongoing macro policy news has to some extent boosted the stainless steel market, strengthening the SS futures. At the beginning of last week, it broke through the previous bottleneck of 13,000 yuan/mt, approaching 13,300 yuan/mt, easing the market's earlier pessimistic sentiment and gradually improving transaction conditions, with traders' quotes rising continuously. However, the market is still in the traditional consumption off-season, and the fundamental situation has not fundamentally changed. Downstream acceptance of high prices is limited, and transactions are insufficient, still relying on traders' discounts. Futures prices have since pulled back, and spot prices have also declined. Overall, the recent market recovery is mainly due to strong macro news support, boosting the overall futures, but the spot fundamentals have recovered poorly, and the market is still reluctant to accept high-priced goods, leading to fluctuations in market prices. The market still faces significant uncertainty, and future developments will require close attention to further policy announcements and the recovery of downstream demand.

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.

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