Over the past week the Chinese manganese alloy market again posted a minor decline, with producers coming under pressure to suspend operations due to increasing costs and decreasing sale prices. Meanwhile the domestic ferrosilicon market was basically stable, with relatively few deals concluded in the market even though the number of inquiries had increased.
Product name | Specification | Place of origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change ($/mt) |
Silicon manganese | FeMn65Si17 | Guangxi | 8,100 | -100 | 1,188 | -15 |
Ferrosilicon | FeSi75 | Gansu | 6,800 | - | 997 | - |
In the past week, the prices of manganese alloys have again declined slightly in China's domestic market. Market quotations of FeMn65Si17 are at RMB 8,100-8,200/mt ($1,188-1,202/mt) in the north of China. At the same time, the mainstream price of FeMn65Si17 in the south stands at RMB 7,800-8,100/mt ($1,144-1,202/mt), with the higher end down by RMB 50/mt ($15/mt) week on week. Meanwhile, export offers of FeMn65Si17 have been standing at $1,500/mt FOB.
The production cost of manganese alloy products is expected to increase to some extent due to rising electricity charges. For example, the cost of electricity in the southwestern region is up by RMB 0.04-0.1/kWh ($0.006-0.015/kWh). Meanwhile, sales prices are still standing at low levels, and so some small and medium-sized enterprises have suspended production. Other enterprises with large stocks are expected to sell off materials in order to avoid larger losses. There has been a lack of clarity as regards market quotations, with some enterprises selling off stocks to bring in cash, while other companies do not want to sell at low price levels.
In the domestic ferrosilicon market, quotations have remained basically stable. Current ex-works prices of ferrosilicon (75 percent) in the northwestern region stand at RMB 6,700-6,900/mt ($982-1,012/mt), while export offers of ferrosilicon (75 percent) are still at $1,430/mt (FOB).
In recent days, some steel mills have issued new ferrosilicon price policies, with the purchase price from major steel enterprises at RMB 7,000/mt ($1,026/mt) for ferrosilicon (75 percent).
Looking at the current ferrosilicon market, there is some confusion surrounding quotations in Qinghai Province and Inner Mongolia because of uncertainty in relation to electricity charges. Meanwhile, inquiries in the overall market have increased but the number of actual deals is still small.