On June 30, the Ministry of Commerce issued Announcement No. 33 of 2025, announcing the final review ruling on anti-dumping measures applicable to imported stainless steel billets and stainless steel hot-rolled coils originating from the European Union, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Indonesia.
According to the ruling, if the anti-dumping measures are terminated, the dumping of imported products originating from the above-mentioned regions into China may continue or recur, and the damage to China's related industries may also continue or recur. With effect from July 1, 2025, anti-dumping duties will continue to be imposed on these imported products for a period of 5 years.
The continuation of this policy aims to protect domestic stainless steel billet and stainless steel hot-rolled coil industries from unfair competition. As important raw materials for stainless steel production, the stability of import policies for stainless steel billets and stainless steel hot-rolled coils is of great significance to the cost control and market competition pattern of upstream and downstream enterprises in the domestic stainless steel industry chain.
In June, China's stainless steel imports were 109,500 tons, a decrease of 15,600 tons month-on-month, a drop of 12.48%, and a year-on-year decrease of 21,800 tons, a drop of 16.61%. The cumulative imports from January to June were 827,500 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 280,300 tons, a drop of 25.3%.
In terms of exports, the export volume in June was 390,000 tons, a decrease of 46,400 tons month-on-month, a drop of 10.6%, and a year-on-year decrease of 62,900 tons, a drop of 13.9%. The cumulative export volume from January to June was 2,500,100 tons, a year-on-year increase of 135,300 tons, an increase of 5.7%.
In June, nickel ore imports were 4.3466 million tons, an increase of 419,400 tons month-on-month, an increase of 10.68%; a year-on-year decrease of 440,700 tons, a drop of 9.21%. From January to June, China's cumulative imports were 14.46 million tons, an increase of 3.43% compared with the same period last year.
In terms of scrap stainless steel, imports in June were 9,041.483 tons, a month-on-month decrease of 4,230.819 tons, a drop of 31.88%; a year-on-year increase of 2,310.328 tons, an increase of 34.32%. The cumulative import volume from January to June was 54,482.026 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 407.993 tons, a drop of 0.74%.
These data reflect the changes in supply and demand of China's stainless steel market in global trade. The decline in imports may be related to factors such as the improvement of domestic production capacity, the adjustment of demand structure and trade policies, while the relatively stable growth of exports shows that Chinese stainless steel products still have certain competitiveness in the international market.
From the perspective of the stainless steel main continuous futures market in the Shanghai Futures Exchange, prices have shown fluctuations in the past week. On July 28, the opening price of stainless steel main continuous futures was 13,045 yuan, the highest price was 13,130 yuan, the lowest price was 12,760 yuan, and the closing price was 12,840 yuan, a decrease of 95 yuan from the previous day's settlement price, with a trading volume of 349,991 lots. In the previous few days, prices also fluctuated to varying degrees. For example, on July 25, it increased by 120 yuan compared with the previous day's settlement price.
Price fluctuations are affected by many factors, including raw material supply, market demand expectations, macroeconomic conditions and international geopolitics. Recent policy changes on the supply side of stainless steel raw materials, such as policy adjustments in resource-rich countries like Indonesia, as well as the pace of global economic recovery and changes in demand in downstream stainless steel industries (such as construction, home appliances, automobiles, etc.), have jointly affected the futures market, making the price trend more complicated.
In general, the stainless steel raw material market is full of variables in its future development under the intertwined influence of policies, trade and market conditions. Relevant industrial enterprises need to pay close attention to various developments to cope with potential market risks and opportunities.
