China's stainless steel production cost has shown a strong support trend since the first quarter of 2025. The prices of nickel-iron and ferrochrome continued to maintain a high level. In addition, macroeconomics supported the demand in the market. However, the supply pressure continued to accumulate, and demand could not keep up.

Therefore, it caused the phenomenon of sticky prices and reflects the lack of confidence in the future market. If demand doesn't improve substantially, steel mills might consider having production cuts instead of pushing up their product prices. Currently, the inventory is relatively lower than in the same period last year, and the possibility of a deep price drop is low.