India’s stainless-steel market has remained largely stable this week owing to sluggish demand and slow offtake, resulting in muted trading activity. There was no significant change in finished flats with 304 HRC steady at ₹180,000/t amid limited mill sourcing and continued import pressure from Vietnam and Thailand. On the other hand, long products remained soft, with 304L round bars unchanged and 316L marginally lower.

The raw materials, including ferro molybdenum, ferro chrome, and ferro silicon, all posted a decline, reflecting muted end-user demand, lower global cues, and cautious buying in the ferrous scrap segment.

Outlook:

The stainless-steel industry will most likely continue to experience a subdued level of activity and price stability over the next several months due to the continued slow offtake of finished products, expensive imported materials resulting from the declining rupee, as well as the very cautious purchasing behaviour of major mills. Some suppliers will continue to suffer from the pressure in some regions on their supply chain, and overall demand for stainless steel will remain weak until there is an improvement in demand and stabilisation of currency pressures.