Rising demand will provide support for nickel prices in 2025, as stainless steel inventories continue to decrease-Zhejiang Benji Stainless Steel Co., Ltd

1、 Raw material report:
1. Nickel: On January 3rd, the closing price of nickel in London was $15111, up 33 yuan or 0.22%; The latest price of Shanghai Nickel 2502 is 123620 yuan, up 480 yuan, an increase of 0.39%; Shanghai high carbon ferrochrome FeCr55C1000 (50 basis) costs 7800 yuan/50 basis tons. Luoyang molybdenum iron is priced at 231000 yuan/ton.
2. The latest price of stainless steel 2503 is 12845 yuan, an increase of 50 yuan or 0.39%; The open position is 146823 lots and the trading volume is 48156 lots.
3. Fujian Qingtuo Yongchang Freight Yard Waste Stainless Steel Purchase Price:
1) 304 new material laser plate costs 9300 yuan/ton, 304 new material large plate tube costs 9200 yuan/ton, and 304 industrial material plate tube costs 8900 yuan/ton;
2) 316 new material, laser plate at 17300 yuan/ton, industrial sheet tube at 17000 yuan/ton.
3) 2205 old material costs 17000 yuan/ton, new material costs 17300 yuan/ton; 2507 old material costs 19200 yuan/ton, new material costs 20200 yuan/ton, 2520 old material costs 21000 yuan/ton, and new material costs 23300 yuan/ton.
2、 Wuxi stainless steel coil reference price
1. Taiyuan Iron and Steel Hot Rolling Guide Price:
300 hot rolling series: 14500 yuan/ton for 304/NO. 1; 15300 yuan/ton for 321/NO.1; 24000 yuan/ton for 316L/NO.1.
Medium plate (trimmed, thickness: 14-20mm, width: 1500mm) made of 304 material -16700 yuan/ton, 321 material -19100 yuan/ton, 316L material -28300 yuan/ton.
2. Dongte Hot Rolling Guide Price:
S30408 material costs 12600 yuan/ton for 4-12mm and 12800 yuan/ton for 14mm; 13000 yuan/ton for 16mm;
S31603 material 4-12mm costs 22600 yuan/ton, 14mm costs 22900 yuan/ton; 23100 yuan/ton for 16mm;
310S hot-rolled flat plate 3 and 4mm costs 32600 yuan/ton, 5-10mm costs 31800 yuan/ton, 12mm costs 32100 yuan/ton, and 14mm costs 33100 yuan/ton.
2205 hot rolling 24500 yuan/ton
3. Qingshan Hot Rolling: 304 material, 12400 yuan/ton,, 316L material costs 22400 yuan/ton; Dingxin 310S material is priced at 31800 yuan/ton for 3mm, 31900 yuan/ton for 4mm, and 31700 yuan/ton for 5-10mm.
4. Zhangpu guide price: 12800 yuan/ton for 304 material, 15900 yuan/ton for 321 hot rolling; 316L hot rolling costs 23000 yuan/ton.
3、 Reference price for stainless steel tube and rod
1. The January price of Qingshan round steel is between 65-130 yuan. S30400 material costs 12450 yuan/ton, 316L material costs 22300 yuan/ton, TP321 material costs 15250 yuan/ton, 321 material costs 14050 yuan/ton, S22053 material costs 22900 yuan/ton, and 310S material costs 31300 yuan/ton.
2. Zhejiang Friendship New Material Continuous Casting Billet
1) The price of 304 material is 12250 yuan/ton for ￠ 160-280, 12350 yuan/ton for ￠ 300-360, and 12250 yuan/ton for ￠ 65-130.
2) 22100 yuan/ton for 316L material ￠ 160-260, 22450 yuan/ton for ￠ 65-130; 22200 yuan/ton for ￠ 300-360.
3) 2205 material: 22700 yuan/ton for ￠ 160-360, 23300 yuan/ton for ￠ 65-105;
4) 28100 yuan/ton for 2507 material ￠ 160-360, 29900 yuan/ton for ￠ 65-105;
5) 310S material costs 31200 yuan/ton for ￠ 160-360 and 31300 yuan/ton for ￠ 65-130.
6) 16800 yuan/ton for 347H ￠ 160-360. 57000 yuan/ton for 904L material ￠ 160-360.
3. 【 Yongxing Bar Material ￠ 65-130 】 304 material costs 15500 yuan/ton, TP321 material costs 17900 yuan/ton, 316L material costs 26800 yuan/ton, 316LGB material costs 29600 yuan/ton, and S22053 material costs 28300 yuan/ton.
4. 【 Fukai Market Price 】:
1) 2205 (F60) material ￠ 150-300 round steel 24600 yuan/ton; 65-130 round steel 24800 yuan/ton;
2) 32000 yuan/ton for 310S material ￠ 150-300, 33000 yuan/ton for ￠ 65-130; 26000 yuan/ton for 309S material ￠ 65-130;
3) S32750 (F53) material ￠ 150-300 round steel 30500 yuan/ton; 65-130 round steel costs 33500 yuan/ton. S32760 (F55) material ￠ 65-130 round steel 37000 yuan/ton.
4) 316L ￠ 65-130 round steel at 25200 yuan/ton; 316Ti ￠ 65-130 round steel 28100 yuan/ton; National standard 316L ￠ 65-130 round steel 31500 yuan/ton; German standard 316 material ￠ 65-130 round steel 28700 yuan/ton; 317L ￠ 65-130 round steel 34700 yuan/ton;
5) 18000 yuan/ton for 321H material ￠ 65-130; 20700 yuan/ton for 347H material ￠ 65-130;
6) NO7718 ￠ 200-250 round steel 167000 yuan/ton; 65-130 round steel priced at 169000 yuan/ton;
7) NO8810 ￠ 200-250 round steel 63000 yuan/ton; 65-130 round steel costs 65000 yuan/ton.
8) NO8926/1.4529 material: ￠ 200-250 round steel 83000 yuan/ton, ￠ 65-130 round steel 71500 yuan/ton,;
9) NO8825 material ￠ 200-250 round steel 91000 yuan/ton, ￠ 65-130 round steel 93000 yuan/ton;
10) NO8028 ￠ 200-250 round steel 82000 yuan/ton, ￠ 65-130 round steel 83000 yuan/ton;
11) NO8120 ￠ 200-250 round steel costs 80500 yuan/ton, and ￠ 65-130 round steel costs 82000 yuan/ton;
12) 630 material (17-4) ￠ 150-300 round steel 15900 yuan/ton, ￠ 65-130 round steel 15900 yuan/ton; 631 material (17-7) ￠￠ 65-130 round steel 18600 yuan/ton; 632 material (15-7Mo) ￠ 65-130 round steel 29300 yuan/ton;
13) 181000 yuan/ton for NO6625 material ￠ 200-250; ￠ 65-130 round steel 183000 yuan/ton;
14) 115000 yuan/ton for NO6601 material ￠ 200-250; 116000 yuan/ton for ￠ 65-130.
15) 131000 yuan/ton for NO6600 material ￠ 200-250; 133000 yuan/ton for ￠ 65-130.
16) 202000 yuan/ton for NO10276 ￠ 200-250; 65-130 round steel priced at 206000 yuan/ton;
17) XM-19 ￠ 65-130 round steel, priced at 34300 yuan/ton;
18) S31254 material ￠ 65-130 round steel 61000 yuan/ton.
19) 904L material ￠ 65-130 round steel 62500 yuan/ton.
20) XM-19 material ￠ 65-130 round steel costs 34300 yuan/ton, 15-5PH (XM-12) material ￠ 65-130 round steel costs 18300 yuan/ton.
21) NO3030 material ￠ 200-250 costs 150000 yuan/ton; 65-130 round steel costs 153000 yuan/ton.
155000 yuan/ton for NO4400 material ￠ 200-250;
22) 140000 yuan/ton for NO4400 material ￠ 200-250; 65-130 round steel costs 142000 yuan/ton.
23) 1.4460 material ￠ 65-130 round steel 23500 yuan/ton.
24) Wuxi Puheng forged round 304L material costs 14200 yuan/ton for ￠ 140-250 and 16300 yuan/ton for ￠ 260-400; 316L material costs 24500 yuan/ton for sizes 140-250 and 24700 yuan/ton for sizes 260-400.
5. Zhejiang Benji Pipe Reference Price
Stainless steel seamless tube 30408 material, specification 25 * 2 * 6000, cold drawn tube acid washed and weighed delivery -25.1 yuan/kg;
Stainless steel seamless tube S31603 material, specification 25 * 2 * 6000 cold drawn tube acid washed and weighed delivery -37.5 yuan/kg;
Stainless steel seamless tube S32168 material, specification 25 * 2 * 6000 cold drawn tube acid washed and weighed delivery -29.2 yuan/kg;
Stainless steel welded pipe made of 30408 material, specification 219-813 * 4-6, acid washed and weighed for delivery -19 yuan/kg;
Stainless steel welded pipe S31603 material, specification 219-813 * 4-6 acid washed weighing delivery -31.4 yuan/kg;
Stainless steel welded pipe 32168 material, specification 219-813 * 4-6 acid washed weighing delivery -25.3 yuan/kg.
4、 Statistical data:
According to Mysteel research:
On January 2, 2024, the social inventory of 89 caliber stainless steel warehouses in the mainstream market nationwide was 895007 tons, a decrease of 8301 tons or 0.92% compared to last week. Among them:
The total inventory of cold-rolled stainless steel is 552773 tons, a decrease of 5377 tons or 0.96% compared to last week;
The total inventory of hot-rolled stainless steel is 342234 tons, a decrease of 2924 tons or 0.85% compared to last week;
The total inventory of the 200 series is 162725 tons, an increase of 881 tons or 0.50% compared to last week;
The total inventory of 300 series is 582622 tons, a decrease of 8783 tons or 1.49% compared to last week;
The total inventory of 400 series is 149660 tons, a decrease of 329 tons or 0.22% compared to last week.
Wuxi inventory 50 warehouse caliber 560654 tons, a decrease of 8838 tons or 1.55% compared to last week;
Foshan inventory is 242873 tons, a decrease of 2053 tons or 0.84% compared to last week;
Zibo, Jieyang, Shenyang, and Xian have inventory of 91480 tons, an increase of 2590 tons or 2.91% compared to last week.
5、 Market analysis
Looking ahead to 2025, as the global economy enters a pace of recovery, infrastructure construction accelerates, policy benefits continue to be implemented, and emerging industries such as new energy vehicles develop rapidly, there is an expectation of an increase in demand for nickel and other raw materials in the steel industry. The rising demand provides stable support for nickel prices. In addition, as an important global producer of nickel ore, Indonesias slowdown in the issuance of production licenses has a significant impact on global nickel supply. The adjustment of the supply side will reduce the oversupply situation in the global nickel market and provide favorable conditions for the rise of nickel prices. Therefore, it is expected that nickel prices will rebound in 2025, and the price fluctuation center will rise slightly.
Recently, nickel prices have fluctuated relatively greatly, while stainless steel prices have remained relatively stable. Downstream demand remains weak during the off-season. The prices of raw materials such as nickel pig iron, high carbon chromium iron, and waste stainless steel have all experienced a decline. In addition, some stainless steel factories may arrange maintenance and production reduction in January to ensure stable supply of billets, so the production schedule in December is relatively high. Futures prices have shown weak performance, with limited support on the raw material side and weakened downstream demand. The good news is that the mainstream market inventory of stainless steel continues to be low, and it is expected that stainless steel prices will operate at a low level in the short term.

Zhejiang Benji Stainless Steel Co., Ltd.,