[SMM Analysis] Futures Strength Fails to Reverse Year-End Off-Season End-Use Demand; Stainless Steel Social Inventory Sees Minor Buildup

Strong Futures Fail to Alter Year-End Off-Season for End-Use Demand, Slight Inventory Buildup in Stainless Steel Social Inventory
SMM December 11 - This week (November 5-December 11, 2025), the total inventory in the two major stainless steel markets of Wuxi and Foshan showed a slight trend of inventory buildup, increasing from 946,900 mt on December 4, 2025, to 947,600 mt on December 11, up 0.07% WoW.
This week, the social inventory of stainless steel continued to show a further slight accumulation. Despite the SS futures remaining strong, market confidence rebounded, and market activity increased, with the spot market also edging up at the beginning of the week under the influence of futures. Influenced by the sentiment of rushing to buy amid continuous price rise and holding back amid price downturn, transaction conditions improved. In addition, the production cut plans of stainless steel mills alleviated supply pressure. However, during the traditional year-end off-season, actual end-use demand did not significantly recover, and downstream cautious wait-and-see sentiment remained heavy. Although recent transactions have recovered somewhat due to the influence of the futures, the actual pickup volume from the terminal was not much. The speculative buying behavior of trading firms engaging in both spot and futures market did not cause substantial changes in social inventory. Therefore, although there was a slight increase in the social inventory of stainless steel within the week, it remained stable overall.