China’s ferrosilicon market still characterized by softness

Tuesday, 16 June 2009 15:32:08 (GMT+3)   |  
       

In the past week China's domestic manganese alloys market registered a minor decline in high carbon ferromanganese prices, with a general stability observed in the siliconmanganese market. Meanwhile, the local Chinese ferrosilicon market was characterized by a certain degree of softness during the past week.

Product name

Specification

Place of origin

Price (RMB/mt)

Weekly change (RMB/mt)

Price  ($/mt)

Weekly change ($/mt)

Silicon manganese

FeMn65Si17

Guangxi

6,500

-

952

-

Ferrosilicon

FeSi75

Gansu

5,200

-50

761

-7

As regards manganese alloys, prices of silicon manganese maintained a general stability in the past week, while a steady but minor decline was seen in the high carbon ferromanganese market. At present, market quotations of silicon manganese FeMn65Si17 are still in the range of RMB 6,300-6,600/mt ($922-966/mt); meanwhile, mainstream prices of high carbon ferromanganese FeMn65 have declined again, by RMB 200/mt ($29/mt), to RMB 6,000-6,300/mt ($878-922/mt).

In the past week imported manganese ore prices in China remained stable on the whole. Despite the tight availability of spot supplies at the ports, the trading volume shrunk slightly compared with previous times. Following the peak in the purchasing volume observed at the beginning of June, both market supply and demand have posted decreases in recent days. Some southern-based ferroalloys producers have again adopted a wait-and-see stance after having replenished their supplies.

As reflected by many Chinese siliconmanganese producers, although commercial activity as regards alloy products has appeared quite brisk in recent days, deal prices are relatively low and so the profit margin is quite slim. In addition, while some mills have increased their orders for June, producers still do not dare to expand production; given the many uncertainties that continue to exist for the future, enterprises may again get into trouble if siliconmanganese prices slide down in the coming days.

With regard to ferrosilicon, a soft trend continued to be observed in the local Chinese market throughout the past week. At present, the ex-factory prices of ferrosilicon (75 percent) in the northwestern regions have declined by RMB 50/mt ($7/mt) to the range of RMB 5,150-5,250/mt ($754-768/mt), while domestic ferrosilicon is still offered at around $1,050-1,100/mt FOB for the export market. However, following the announcement of the export price limit for June, developments in the export market will be observed with interest in the coming period.

Against the background of the continuing bearishness of China's domestic ferrosilicon market, many producers have continued to maintain halts to their production in recent days; meanwhile, market demand has failed to show any recovery, resulting in an overall balance between supply and demand. In addition, since ferrosilicon can only be transported by truck in China, the transportation costs for ferrosilicon producers have risen considerably as a result of the increase in oil prices. Moreover, the Chinese customs authorities have just issued the export price limit for June, with the price limit of 75 percent ferrosilicon at $1,150/mt and that of 72 percent ferrosilicon at $1,080/mt. This will make it more difficult to export ferrosilicon from China.


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