Asia - Prices pick up slightly in July, but short-term outlook remains weak

摘要

Chinese austenitic stainless steel prices rallied slightly during the second half of July on the back of firmer domestic nickel prices. Spot market prices in Wuxi for 304CR 2mm coil (2B) were around Rmb15,000/t during the last week of July, which is about Rmb200/t higher than they were one month earlier. In contrast, prices for ferritic coil in China softened month-on-month. Spot prices for 430CR 2mm coil (2B) slipped by around Rmb100-200/t after major Chinese mills dropped their indicative buying price for high-carbon ferrochrome.