As the National Day holiday approaches, market transactions have paused. Stainless steel futures pulled back, while spot prices remained temporarily stable. [SMM Stainless Steel Daily Report]

SMM September 30 - SS futures continued to trend lower. Today, following the decline in ferrous metals series and SHFE nickel futures, SS followed suit, with the intraday price approaching 12,700 yuan/mt. In the spot market, as today was the last trading day before the National Day holiday, most traders only handled previous orders. Shipments and sales were restricted during the holiday, and most had completed pre-holiday stockpiling, leading to sluggish trading today. Additionally, the continuous decline in futures weakened cost support, and market expectations for October were generally pessimistic.

Futures side, the most-traded contract 2511 pulled back. At 10:30 am, SS2511 was quoted at 12,755 yuan/mt, down 40 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. In Wuxi, the spot premium/discount for 304/2B was in the range of 365-665 yuan/mt. In the spot market, the average price for cold-rolled 201/2B coil in Wuxi was 8,100 yuan/mt; the average price for cold-rolled mill edge 304/2B coil was 13,100 yuan/mt in both Wuxi and Foshan; the price for cold-rolled 316L/2B coil was 25,650 yuan/mt in both Wuxi and Foshan; the price for hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coil was 24,950 yuan/mt in both regions; the price for cold-rolled 430/2B coil was 7,600 yuan/mt in both Wuxi and Foshan.

Despite the traditional September-October peak season, downstream end-use demand recovery was limited, and purchasing sentiment remained sluggish. Approaching the National Day holiday, pre-holiday stockpiling demand did not materialize, leading to mediocre trading. The 11-week destocking process for stainless steel social inventory ended, and social inventory increased. Although some stainless steel mills' production was affected by ultra-low emission renovations and maintenance, overall stainless steel planned production remained at a relatively high level, and supply was generally loose. Coupled with the exhaustion of short-term macro policy benefits, SS futures were in the doldrums throughout the week, with weak market confidence. On the raw material side, although Tsingshan raised the steel mill tender price for high-carbon ferrochrome for October, consistent with prior market expectations, retail ferrochrome prices had already reached a considerable level, ending the previous upward trend, and overall prices were largely stable; high-grade NPI prices weakened during the week, reducing cost support for stainless steel. Although current market sentiment is weak, given the traditional peak season and inventory levels that, despite an increase, remain low, and stainless steel mills still facing losses, short-term stainless steel prices are unlikely to see a significant pullback.