Chinese stainless steel prices declined over the past week because of producer plans to reduce their inventories ahead of the January 24-30 Lunar New Year holiday.
Sources told Fastmarkets that the slight decrease in nickel prices also contributed to the lower prices, with the three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ending 2019 at $14,075-14,100 per tonne on Tuesday December 31, down $250-255 per tonne from $14,330-14,350 per tonne on December 24.Steelmakers kept high production rates while demand gradually dropped and that also...