Chinese stainless steel futures snapped a three-session losing streak on Thursday to rise more than 5%, buoyed by a surge in steelmaking ingredient nickel prices, although analysts warn that downstream consumption of the metal remains sluggish.
Nickel prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange jumped as much as 8% to a record 161,600 yuan ($25,283.58) per tonne.
China’s imports of nickel ore and nickel pig iron fell 1.6% and 12.3%, respectively, on a monthly basis in September, data released by the customs office on Wednesday showed.