SHANGHAI, Sep 29 (SMM) - According to SMM survey, while the National Day holiday is just a few days away, the pre-holiday stocking activities in the two major stainless steel spot markets have fallen short of expectations. In mid-September, traders carried out centralised purchases. Therefore, trading activities waned in the last trading week before the week-long holiday. The supply of stainless steel of conventional specifications has returned to normal, but cargoes of certain specifications are still in shortfalls due to raw material problems. Sell-offs of HRC at lower prices were reported due to strong expectations that its supply will increase after the holiday. The demand from downstream pipe factories and stamping parts factories picked up. With the overall supply and demand increasing simultaneously, the prices of stainless steel of different specifications diverged. Considering that steel mills will basically maintain normal production during the National Day holiday, the inventory will probably grow after the holiday as cargoes will keep arriving during the holiday.  Steel mills stocked up raw materials ahead of the holiday, sending raw material prices up. NPI and stainless steel scrap prices remained firm amid tight supply. It is expected that stainless steel prices will stabilise after the holiday.

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