SS futures fluctuations drove spot stainless steel, with inventory continuing to decline [SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review]

Aug 28, 2025 17:55

Source:SMM

[SS Futures Drives Spot Stainless Steel, Inventory Continues to Drop] SMM reported on August 28 that the SS futures showed a trend of first falling then rising. After the night session opened, it quickly fell and then operated below 12,800 for most of the time. In the afternoon, it rebounded and strengthened, closing above 12,850 yuan/mt. In the spot market, prices were lowered in the morning due to the decline in SS futures and poor acceptance of high-priced goods by downstream end-users. Traders faced significant pressure to sell off inventory at month-end. In the afternoon, as futures stopped falling and started to rise, market confidence returned, leading to improved transactions and higher quotes. This week, social inventory further decreased, down 0.49% WoW to 928,800 mt. In the futures market, the most-traded contract 2510 fluctuated. At 10:30 AM, SS2510 was quoted at 12,800 yuan/mt, down 90 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The spot premiums/discounts for 304/2B in Wuxi ranged between 320-470 yuan/mt. In the spot market, Wuxi cold-rolled 201/2B coils were quoted at 8,050 yuan/mt; cold-rolled 304/2B coils averaged 13,025 yuan/mt in Wuxi and 13,025 yuan/mt in Foshan; cold-rolled 316L/2B coils were 25,675 yuan/mt in both Wuxi and Foshan; hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coils were 25,100 yuan/mt in both locations; and cold-rolled 430/2B coils were 7,400 yuan/mt in both Wuxi and Foshan. Last week, SS futures continued to fall, completely erasing gains made this month…

SMM reported on August 28 that the SS futures showed a trend of first falling and then rising. After the night session opened, it quickly fell and then operated below 12,800 for most of the time. In the afternoon, it rebounded and strengthened, closing above 12,850 yuan/mt. In the spot market, in the morning, influenced by the decline in SS futures, and with downstream end-users still showing low acceptance of high-priced goods, traders faced significant pressure to sell at month-end and thus lowered their quotes. In the afternoon, as futures stopped falling and rose, market confidence returned, trading recovered, and quotes followed the upward trend. This week, social inventory further decreased, down 0.49% WoW to 928,800 mt.

In the futures market, the most-traded contract 2510 fluctuated. At 10:30 AM, SS2510 was quoted at 12,800 yuan/mt, down 90 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The spot premiums and discounts for 304/2B in Wuxi were in the range of 320-470 yuan/mt. In the spot market, the 201/2B cold-rolled coil in Wuxi was quoted at 8,050 yuan/mt; the 304/2B cold-rolled coil (with edges) averaged 13,025 yuan/mt in Wuxi and 13,025 yuan/mt in Foshan; the 316L/2B cold-rolled coil in Wuxi was 25,675 yuan/mt, and in Foshan, 25,675 yuan/mt; the 316L/NO.1 hot-rolled coil in both regions was 25,100 yuan/mt; the 430/2B cold-rolled coil in both Wuxi and Foshan was 7,400 yuan/mt.

Last week, the SS futures continued to fall, completely erasing the gains made this month, and basically returning to the level at the end of July, with the low point reaching the key threshold of 12,700 yuan/mt. Affected by this, the spot market also weakened. The downstream market had already shown low acceptance of the previous high prices, and with the significant pullback in futures, as well as traders adopting discount strategies under sales pressure, spot quotes declined. However, even with price reductions, there was no effective boost in transactions, as the market generally exhibited a "rush to buy amid continuous price rise and hold back amid price downturn" sentiment, leading to a more pronounced wait-and-see sentiment and further deterioration in trading conditions. But, as the traditional peak season of September-October approaches, stainless steel mills have announced production cuts, and actual production schedules may be slightly lower than expected. Recently, stainless steel social inventory has seen a seven-week consecutive decline, and the prices of raw materials such as nickel and chromium have risen, along with increased expectations for US Fed interest rate cuts, and the national "anti-rat race" policy. With these multiple supports, stainless steel prices have shown signs of stopping the decline and rebounding this week.

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

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SS futures fluctuations drove spot stainless steel, with inventory continuing to decline [SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review]

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