Electrolytic manganese entered its traditional off-season in May and June 2026, with the market witnessing a loose supply-demand surplus and narrow price fluctuation ranges. Hit by sluggish downstream purchases, prices once corrected notably......

[SMM Analysis] Weak Off-Season Demand and Firm Raw Materials Drive Up Stainless Steel Costs, Narrowing Profits This week, stainless steel production costs edged up slightly, while product prices remained stable overall, leading to a slight narrowing of steel mill profit margins. Using 304 cold-rolled as the calculation benchmark, the current raw material-calculated profit margin was 2.16%, while the inventory raw material-calculated profit margin was 1.44%. Nickel-based raw material cost side, this week high-grade NPI prices edged up. Although the market has entered the traditional consumption off-season for stainless steel, with weak end-use demand, insufficient market confidence, and strong steel mill desires to bargain down prices, the limited production cuts for 300-series stainless steel in June meant a relatively small decline in demand for high-grade NPI. Combined with persistent disturbances from Indonesian news and a firm stance on holding prices from upstream players, these factors collectively drove high-grade NPI prices to hold up well. As of this Friday, the mainstream grade of 10%-12% high-grade NPI rose by 0.5 yuan per nickel unit, closing at 1,144 yuan per nickel unit. Stainless steel scrap market side, this week stainless steel scrap prices edged up. Driven by the linkage effect of firm spot finished steel and strong high-grade NPI, scrap prices also moved higher synchronously. However, under the suppression of multiple bearish factors such as weak demand in the traditional off-season, tight supply of tax invoices, and steel mill process limitations, its upside room was limited. Currently, bullish and bearish factors are counterbalancing each other, and it is expected that in the short term, stainless steel scrap prices will mainly remain stable. As of this Friday, mainstream 304 off-cut prices in Shanghai rose by 100 yuan/mt, with the latest quotation at approximately 10,450 yuan/mt. Chrome-based raw material cost side, this week high-carbon ferrochrome prices remained stable. Although in the traditional consumption off-season for stainless steel, in June steel...

Driven by rising alloy costs, Nippon Steel Stainless Steel (NSSC) raised its May prices for 300-series stainless steel by JPY10,000/ton and 400-series by JPY5,000/ton. May benchmark prices for nickel and chromium were raised to US$7.96/lb and US$1.63/lb, up 2.6% and 1.8% respectively.

Driven primarily by price adjustments from Indonesia, Chinese Taiwan’s 300-series stainless steel HRC imports surged to 59,560 tons in March 2026, giving a 50% month-on-month increase and a 16-month peak. Indonesia’s policy of curbing nickel ore output has kept raw material costs elevated, forcing mills to hike export rates. While March saw a sharp monthly spike, total Q1 imports reached 148,354 tons, down 11.2% year-on-year. Market participants expect import prices to remain high, noting that these elevated costs will likely lead to a reduction in overall purchase volumes in the coming months.

Nippon Steel announced that its stainless steel prices for April will remain unchanged from March. Prices for 300-series stainless steel have risen for six consecutive months since October 2025, with cumulative increases reaching approximately US$410 per ton. For April, 300-series prices hold steady while nickel costs declined around 2% month-on-month to US$7.80 per pound approximately. Chromium costs for 400-series stainless steel remained flat for a fifth straight month at approx. US$1.60 per pound.

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Yieh Hsing Enterprise announced on January 30, 2026, that it will raise its wire rod prices for February deliveries due to soaring raw material costs. Prices for 300-series stainless steel wire rods will increase by NT$7,500 per tonne, while carbon steel wire rods will see a hike of NT$500 per tonne. The company cited a sharp climb in global production costs and an uptrend in international market prices as the primary drivers for this adjustment

[SMM In-Depth Analysis: Off-Season Futures Surge Creates Arbitrage Window: High-Grade NPI Price Drivers and Outlook] Recently, the market has been trading on expectations of a supply deficit in Indonesia, while non-ferrous metals have generally risen amid macro events, driving nickel prices and high-grade NPI prices steadily higher. Against a backdrop of sluggish end-use consumption, what is supporting the continuous rise in high-grade NPI prices? The detailed analysis is as follows:

In 2025, the global nickel pig iron (NPI) market, influenced by the interplay of supply-demand dynamics, cost fluctuations, and policy environment, exhibited an overall trend of "fluctuations in the first half of the year, followed by initial stability and subsequent weakness in the second half." Significant divergence was observed between the two core production regions, China and Indonesia. Price trends shifted from cost-supported increases at the beginning of the year to off-season demand-driven declines by year-end. Throughout the year, the industry revolved around two fundamental themes: "capacity release and cost constraints on the supply side, and volatility in the stainless steel industry on the demand side."