This week, the overall market situation for 321 Stainless Steel sheet showed a weak trend characterized by "stable supply at high levels, weak demand during the off-season, loosening cost support, and a slight increase in inventory".

On the cost side, the price of billets has been running slightly weakly. The bottom support role of coal and coke has been continuously diluted by the terminal demand. The overall production cost center of 321 Stainless Steel sheet enterprises has steadily declined. Manufacturers lack confidence in maintaining high prices and are reluctant to increase prices. Instead, they prefer to offer discounts for sales and negotiate flexibly. The price increase of 321 Stainless Steel sheet lacks strong cost support.

The contradiction between supply and demand has become more prominent: The supply side maintains a high and stable level, with no obvious contraction benefits; the demand side of 321 Stainless Steel sheet is constrained by the traditional off-season and extreme weather conditions. The terminal production is sluggish, there is a lack of order growth, and the current situation of insufficient demand release has not been improved. Moreover, the passive increase in inventory further intensifies market pressure.

In terms of futures and sentiment, the market experienced narrow fluctuations, with moderate buying and selling pressure. This neither drove the spot price of 321 Stainless Steel sheet to rise in a concentrated manner nor triggered panic selling. The weak forward expectations continued to influence market sentiment. Middlemen adhered to the strategy of maintaining low inventories and quick buying and selling, and speculative demand was almost absent. The trading activity of 321 Stainless Steel sheet spot remained at a low level.

At the policy level, the implementation pace of policies for stabilizing growth and infrastructure stimulus has been relatively slow. There is a delay in the allocation of special bond funds and the commencement of project construction. In the short term, there are no strong policy benefits to offset the negative impact of the off-season. The overall market expectation for the 321 Stainless Steel sheet market is relatively conservative.

At present, the negative factors in the 321 Stainless Steel sheet market have not yet been eliminated. The accumulation of inventory, weak demand, and loosening costs have all exerted multiple pressures. Only relying on the shortage of certain specifications and a small amount of urgent demand is not enough to reverse the weak market trend. The market situation of 321 Stainless Steel sheet still relies on the bottoming out of raw material costs. It is expected that in the short term, the domestic 321 Stainless Steel sheet market will continue to exhibit a weak and stable oscillating trend, with regional differentiation and specification differentiation. Core production areas with high inventories in North China still have some room for slight pressure relief and profit-making. The trading prices in the eastern and southwestern regions may mainly remain in a narrow range of consolidation. The overall 321 Stainless Steel sheet market is unlikely to have a trend of rising or falling. In the future, the focus will be on the recovery of production due to improved terminal weather conditions, changes in raw material prices, and the pace of inventory reduction.