Stainless Steel Prices, Inventory & Insights in China from May 11th to May 15th 2026
Last week, stainless steel prices in the Wuxi market continued to decline. Previously, there was a strong bullish sentiment in the market, expecting prices to reach US$2510/MT; however, after surging post-holiday, prices fell sharply, even dropping below the US$2360/MT mark. The price-supporting sentiment among steel mills and traders vanished entirely, leading to a continuous downward trend. As of this Friday, the main stainless steel contract price fell by US$37/MT from last week to US$2345/MT , a decrease of 1.65% . Last week, cold-rolled and hot-rolled 304 spot prices showed a weak downward trend. As of Friday, the mainstream base price for 4-foot cold-rolled stainless steel 304 in the Wuxi area was quoted at US$2345/MT, down US$22/MT from last week's price; the hot-rolled stainless steel price was quoted at US$2330/MT, down US$7/MT from last week. During the week, spot prices did not closely follow the significant fluctuations of futures prices. Because steel mills opened with high prices and spot merchants had high holding costs, it was difficult for overall prices to drop deeply. It wasn't until Thursday, when Tsingshan stainless steel 304 opened with a US$30/MT drop, that market quotations became chaotic, with most merchants dropping another US$ to take orders. The price gap between cold and hot rolled /MT further narrowed, and the previous price-supporting mentality visibly loosened.
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