India: Ferro silicon prices remain range bound on moderate demand

Indian ferro silicon prices remained range-bound on moderate demand as small scales buyers are refraining from booking the material at higher levels.

According to SteelMint’s assessment on 24 Mar’22, ferro silicon producers are offering at around INR 190,000-200,000/t exw from both Guwahati and Bhutan. However, there is some selling pressure on sellers for meeting year-end financial targets.

Key highlights

• Major buyers have plenty of inventory, while the smaller buyers are unwilling to book material at higher prices and are waiting for price reductions. This lack of demand has kept prices range-bound. Additionally, ferro silicon demand was moderate this week since many producers anticipated that prices would drop. As a result, ferro silicon prices remained range bound.
• Domestic buyers are bargaining hard and trying to bring down prices, but many major producers are already sold out for the month and are not in a hurry to sell at low prices. This kept prices steady over the week.
• Meanwhile, steel prices remain high, so sellers are not willing to lower their offers. This prompted smelters to maintain their prices.
• Furthermore, buyers are waiting for the new price opening next month, creating less demand in the market. This has also supported the stability in ferro silicon prices.
• Many inquiries from Europe are pouring into India, causing a shortage in the domestic market. This trend has kept prices of ferro silicon range-bound this week.

Outlook
Market participants feel prices may go down in the near term owing to lack of demand at higher prices.