China's stainless steel market saw some activity over the past week following several weeks of stagnation as a result of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in the country.
The sparse trading led some sellers to cut their prices though some of their more optimistic peers raised them in anticipation of a gradual recovery of demand.
Both the central Chinese government and local authorities have encouraged companies to start returning to work, having initially instructed them to delay their restart after the Chinese New Year as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
In Jiangsu province where Wuxi is located, some 75% of all large and medium-sized industrial enterprises have resumed production on Tuesday, according to local media reports.
But a nickel price decline over the past month is putting pressure on the stainless steel market, sources said.
The
three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended Wednesday's trading session at $12,775-12,780 per tonne, down $1,585-1,590 per tonne from January 16's $14,360-14,370 per tonne - its highest price so far this year.