Stainless steel prices in East Asia moved up over the past week amid sustained upward momentum in the nickel segment and falling spot market inventory levels in China.
Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless 2mm trimmed cold-rolled coil was $2,230-2,320 per tonne cif East Asian ports for the week ended Wednesday May 30, up $30-60 per tonne from a week earlier.Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless trimmed hot-rolled sheet was $2,170-2,260 per tonne cif East Asian ports for the same period, up $40-50 per tonne week on week.Small shipments of Chinese stainless CRC were booked at around $2,250-2,300 per tonne cif over the past week, sources said.A few cargoes of stainless hot-rolled coil were also sold from China at $2,150-2,200 per tonne cif, which is equivalent to $2,210-2,260 per tonne cif for the sheet product that Metal Bulletin assesses.Trading activity was sparse, with a number of export...