Economic Advantages Provide Support, Stainless Steel Scrap Market Temporarily Stabilizes [SMM Stainless Steel Scrap Market Weekly Review]

This week, the price of 304 stainless steel scrap off-cuts in east China held steady, quoted at 9,700-9,800 yuan/mt; in Foshan, the same specification of stainless steel scrap off-cuts dropped back slightly, with a price range of 9,600-9,900 yuan/mt. From the perspective of raw material production costs, the current cost of producing stainless steel entirely using stainless steel scrap is approximately 13,535.53 yuan/mt, while the cost of using entirely high-grade NPI is 14,494.08 yuan/mt.

This week, the pullback in stainless steel futures led to a slight decline in spot prices, while prices of raw materials such as high-grade NPI and high-carbon ferrochrome showed an upward trend. However, under this pattern, stainless steel scrap prices overall maintained temporary stability. In the current market, the need for capital repatriation ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday dominated trader operations, with most scrap yards showing a significantly enhanced willingness to sell; some regional yards had already suspended purchases early to wrap up operations. The economic advantage of stainless steel scrap relative to high-grade NPI remained prominent, and steel mills maintained a steady procurement pace. Supported by just-in-time procurement, market transactions did not show significant contraction. Looking at future expectations, affected by the Chinese New Year holiday in February, stainless steel industry production is expected to drop back noticeably, with end-user orders continuing to decrease. Combined with the sentiment pressure from the paused price increase in stainless steel this week, the stainless steel scrap market lacks a core independent driver for a rise. In summary, although the short-term stainless steel scrap market, supported by its cost-effectiveness and steel mills' just-in-time procurement, has no significant downside room for prices, constrained by pre-holiday wait-and-see sentiment and post-holiday weakening supply and demand, it is expected to mainly operate under pressure with fluctuations in the short term, making it difficult to chart an independent course.