Stainless Steel Prices, Inventory & Insights in China from Nov 24th to Dec 7th 2025
Expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut have strengthened. During the week, the non-ferrous metals sector continued to rise, and stainless steel prices saw a slight increase last week. As of the close on December 5th (Friday), the main stainless steel contract 2601 was reported at US$1905/MT , up US$19.25/MT from the previous week, a weekly increase of 1.09% . The main Shanghai Nickel contract rose 0.61% during the week to US$17040/MT . Last week, the stainless steel 304 market price remained stable. As of Thursday, the mainstream base price for Wuxi private cold-rolled 4-foot sheets was reported at US$1875/MT, flat compared to last Thursday; private hot-rolled stainless steel prices were reported at US$1845/MT, up US$7/MT from last Thursday. Early in the week, stainless steel prices stopped falling and rebounded, market transactions warmed up, and inventory depletion among traders and agents was obvious. Later, gains in the futures market narrowed, and downstream procurement focused mainly on restocking for rigid demand, resulting in a generally flat transaction pace.
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