Ferrotitanium prices soar amid supply concerns

The precautions to reduce the impact of the coronavirus outbreak taken by Russia, the leading supplier of ferrotitanium in the world, have led to upward movements in the segment worldwide.

According to market insiders, the prices for FeTi 70%Ti in Europe have jumped by about 10 percent over the week, to about $4.5-5.0/kg DDP Rotterdam. “The European market which has been almost dead during the past two months, significantly strengthened in recent days,” said one of the key ferrotitanium suppliers, adding that he managed to sell 20 mt in the middle of current week at $4.8/mt DDP Rotterdam. The main reason for such a sudden upward movement is the concern of customers regarding supplies from Russia due to its lockdown. However, as SteelOrbis has learned, up to now the main Russian ferrotitanium producer VSMPO-AVISMA has not announced any force majeure, but only the days from March 30 to April 3 were announced as days off, without any production stoppages.

The offers to China have been voiced at $4.5/kg CFR, versus the previous discussed levels at $4.2-4.3/kg CFR, with no deals at the new levels reported yet.

“It is difficult to say whether the uptrend in Europe is long term taking into account widespread production suspensions at steel mills and shutdowns of companies in other segments: however, as of today, supply worries weigh on subdued demand from end-users,” an alloy supplier stated.