India: Silico manganese prices edge up, w-o-w, on improved demand

Silico manganese prices rose by INR 4,000-4,500/t w-o-w owing to improved demand in the domestic and export markets.

According to SteelMint’s assessment on 4 Jan’22, silico manganese (60-14) prices are trending in the range INR 97,250-98,500/t exw-Durgapur, Raipur, and Vizag.

Producers who had healthy orders for the month are offering at higher prices compared to the prevailing market rate.

SteelMint recorded deals of roughly 4,000 t during the week for different grades of silico manganese.

Despite a marginal rise in prices, domestic buyers are actively booking material to avoid having to buy at higher prices later on.

However, the New Year holidays kept producers from further raising prices and the offers remained unchanged since the beginning of this week.

Further, many domestic silico manganese exporters are booked until mid-Feb’22, as they have received a good number of orders from Asian buyers, and they expect further orders from the European markets to tricke in after the holiday season.

Currently, suppliers are offering 60-14 grade material at $1,320/t FOB India and 65-16 grade at around $ 1,465/t FOB. However, some suppliers are offering 65-16 material at $1,500/t for Feb-Mar’22 shipments.

In addition, major domestic manganese ore producers have reduced offers for Jan’22 deliveries in order to maintain parity with import prices. This has prevented a further increase in silico manganese prices, while improved enquiries and demand prompted producers to raise offers.

Outlook
The healthy order book of Indian producers and the surge in enquiries in the export market after the New Year holidays are keeping the silico manganese demand and price outlook positive in the short term.