Market Concerns Linger Amid High Inventory and Off-season, Despite Recovering Stainless Steel Transactions [SMM Analysis]

SMM November 27 - This week (November 21-27, 2025), the total inventory in the two major stainless steel markets of Wuxi and Foshan showed a slight buildup trend, increasing from 940,000 mt on November 20, 2025 to 946,000 mt on November 27, up 0.64% WoW.

This week, stainless steel social inventory saw a slight accumulation again. Although the US Fed made dovish remarks this week, which may have raised market expectations for a December interest rate cut, metal futures were generally lifted as a result, and SS futures also ended their weak downward trend since October, shifting to a recovery and rise. Market confidence was boosted, and the willingness to purchase strengthened. In addition, due to the previous continuous price decline, some demand was suppressed; after prices stopped falling and rebounded, concentrated purchase transactions occurred in the market. However, although market transactions recovered, some transactions during the week did not actually complete cargo pick-up. At the same time, steel mills showed a strong willingness to sell during the week, and arrivals were generally high, leading to further inventory buildup. Despite recent frequent news about stainless steel mills cutting production, the market still has doubts about the actual implementation of these production cuts. Coupled with expectations of the year-end off-season and the recent pullback in stainless steel furnace charge prices, which weakened cost support for stainless steel, the market maintained a cautious wait-and-see attitude.