SMM

SHANGHAI, Sep 26 (SMM) - SHFE stainless steel contract moved rangebound last week. The Fed's rate hike on Thursday was in line with market expectations, but it had a limited impact on the trend of the SS contract. SS contract was once close to the resistance, and it quickly fell to the support last Friday,. The futures prices soared and hovered around high levels amid the game of funds in the market amid deviation from the fundamentals. In addition, SHFE nickel prices rose strongly for several days, pushing up the SS prices to some extent. In terms of fundamentals, there was some elasticity in supply. The stainless steel output increased MoM in September, which was gradually being released to the market. On the demand side, with the approaching of the National Day holiday, market transactions increased, but the overall demand transmission was slightly impeded. The demand for stainless steel in each terminal industry was different. Small stainless steel product manufacturers such as hardware appliances were more willing to restock, while infrastructure industries still purchased on rigid demand. On the whole, the supply and demand of stainless steel both rose slightly. While the market is waiting for the driving force of the peak season of September and October, the spot prices are expected to remain rangebound. Stainless steel prices are now strongly supported by the costs. The rise of NPI prices slowed down, and buyers and sellers once again began to wrestle over the prices. The short-term NPI prices may remain stable. High-carbon ferrochrome prices generally rose. The supply still remained tight in September though the excessive supply earlier had not been consumed yet. It is expected that the high-carbon ferrochrome prices may rise slightly in the short term. SMM believes that the prices of the SS contract will remain rangebound this week.