Stainless steel inventory has declined for eleven consecutive weeks, with destocking narrowing amid an underperforming peak season [SMM Analysis]

SMM September 18th report, this week (September 12-18, 2025), the total inventory of the two major stainless steel markets in Wuxi and Foshan showed a destocking trend, decreasing from 9.026 million mt on September 11, 2025 to 8.972 million mt on September 18, down 0.6% WoW.

This week, the social inventory of stainless steel continued to decline for the 11th consecutive week, with the inventory volume falling below the 9 million mt mark, basically pulling back to the lower levels at the beginning of the year, but the destocking speed slowed down. During the week, the US Fed's interest rate cut officially landed, with a reduction of 25 basis points, in line with previous market expectations. The bullish macro factors have been fully realized, leading the futures to be in the doldrums. Under the influence of the declining futures, market confidence has somewhat declined, and the trading situation within the week was not ideal. In addition, the arrival of goods from Indonesia's Yongwang led to an increase in cold-rolled inventory during the week. However, hot-rolled supplies remained relatively tight, with destocking mainly concentrated on hot-rolled products, and the overall destocking amplitude was relatively low.