China’s common alloys market sees stability at low price levels

The Chinese common alloys market has maintained a general stability throughout the past week, with a small improvement observed in trading in the domestic ferrosilicion market. Overall, the domestic common alloys market still faces great pressure and will continue to indicate low price levels in the short term.

Over the past week market prices of manganese alloys in China have moved on a stable trend. At present, market quotations of silicon manganese FeMn65Si17 have remained constant in the range of RMB 7,000-7,400/mt ($1,012-1,085/mt) in the southern regions. Meanwhile, mainstream prices of high carbon ferromanganese FeMn65 in the south are at RMB 7,000-7,100/mt ($1,026-1,041/mt), and FeMn65Si17 is still offered at $1,250-1,300/mt FOB for the export market.

Following the consumption of low-priced materials, market prices of silicon manganese in China have bounced back above the level of RMB 7,000/mt during the past week. Meanwhile, some southern-based producers have also hiked their quotations on account of the increased electricity prices. However, given the continuing weakness of market demand, mills have still kept their purchase prices at low levels, and so the market prices of manganese alloys have in general followed a stable movement throughout the past week. As regards imported manganese ore, market prices have remained constant in recent days, with a considerable rise observed in manganese ore inventories at the ports.

With regard to ferrosilicon, the domestic market has remained at its previous levels throughout the past week. The ex-factory prices of ferrosilicon (75 percent) in the northwestern regions are in the range of RMB 5,250-5,350/mt ($779-785/mt), while domestic ferrosilicon is offered at around $1,150/mt FOB for the export market.

In the past week, China's domestic ferrosilicon market has still maintained a general stability. Although it is said that some producers will raise their sales prices due to the increased electricity prices in the northwestern regions, mainstream prices have remained at unchanged levels in recent days. With limited stocks in hand, most ferrosilicon producers are operating only to meet orders previously received. Looking at the current situation, with the increased inquiries recorded, the domestic ferrosilicon market has begun to show signs of an improvement in its trading performance, but it still seems difficult for the market to shake off its sluggishness in the short term. As regards the future, lacking sufficient rising momentum, the Chinese ferrosilicon market will continue to fluctuate at low levels in the coming period.