Trade in Silico Manganese was relatively quiet in the week gone by, with most furnace buyers not looking to buy material as there is major uncertainty looming in the finish steel market in view of the monsoons. Most Silico Manganese producers are operating at 50-60% of capacity and some are also reported to have closed bookings, waiting for the markets to bounce back before resuming operations. Whereas, traders have been more flexible in making price adjustments, and have adopted a strategy to destock aggressively. Steel mills continue to keep Silico Manganese inventories as low as possible to minimize risks. Silico Manganese 60-14 is currently being offered at around Rs. 51,000 /MT (Ex-Raipur) and Rs. 51,000-51,500 /MT (Ex-Durgapur). Trade in the export market has been dormant as well. Demand for Indian origin Silico Manganese continues to be soft and is threatening to lead to more production cuts, as prices fall further. Silico Manganese 60-14 is offered at $ 920-930 /MT FOB, and Silico Manganese 65-16 is currently being offered at $ 1040-1050 /MT FOB East-coast India (P – 0.25% max). SteelMint assessed that mills are not buying because finish steel prices continue to plummet in the international markets.
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