The Ukrainian ferroalloy producers have decreased their prices for the domestic market by an average of ten percent, following the request of the country's steel producers made on March 3, 2009, at a meeting held at the Ministry of Industrial Policy of Ukraine.
According to the Association of Ukrainian Ferroalloy Producers' (UkrFA) executive director Sergey Kudryavtsev, the ferrosilicomanganese price for the domestic market has been reduced by about UAH 700/mt (approx. $78/mt), the ferromanganese price has been cut by about UAH 1,600/mt (approx. $201/mt), while the metallic manganese price is down by about UAH 3,000/mt (approx. $377/mt).
In exchange, the Ukrainian ferroalloy producers are expecting that the domestic steel producers will keep their promise to reduce ferroalloys imports.
According to Derzhzovnishinform, the Ukrainian governmental center which monitors the external markets, during the first two months of 2009 Ukraine increased its ferroalloy imports to 12,000 mt, including 7,000 mt in February, compared to 18,000 mt imported in the whole of 2008.