[SMM Analysis] Futures Limit Up Drives Spot Cargo Rise, Stainless Steel Inventory Continues to Hit Bottom

SMM January 15 news, this week (January 9-15, 2026), the total inventory in the two major stainless steel markets of Wuxi and Foshan showed a declining trend, dropping from 854,600 mt on January 8, 2026 to 843,700 mt on January 15, 2026, down 1.28% WoW.

This week, social inventory of stainless steel continued its downward trajectory, further hitting bottom and refreshing the low since 2025. The core driver for the continuous inventory pullback came from the dual resonance of accelerated pick-up pace boosted by the futures and tight supply on the arrivals side. SS futures surged strongly, once hitting the limit-up and refreshing the high since 2025, with optimistic market sentiment continuing to ferment, driving the spot price to rise synchronously. Driven by the market inertia of "rush to buy amid continuous price rise and hold back amid price downturn", traders and downstream enterprises accelerated the fulfillment of previous low-price contracts, with willingness to actively pick up goods significantly enhanced, directly boosting the pace of social inventory drawdown. Meanwhile, market arrivals were generally tight this week, and weak supply-side replenishment further exacerbated the inventory decline. However, after the rapid surge in stainless steel prices, end-user acceptance of high-priced resources weakened, and fear of high prices gradually emerged in the market, with inquiry purchases gradually cooling down. Although in the short term, the pattern of low inventory resonating with strong expectations is expected to continue, concerns about insufficient terminal demand resilience and increasing uncertainties on the supply side have begun to emerge.