Ferro alloys market remains stable; manufacturers keen to clear stocks

Market for ferro alloys remains almost stable but prices
corrected a bit as manufacturers are keen to clear stocks ahead of the financial
year end. But, expectations are high to see an upward trend in the next
quarter due to raw material price hike & anticipated power tariff hike
across India.

Silico Manganese

Domestic grade 60/14 currently trades at around Rs
53,000-54,000/MT i.e. almost same as the previous traded price. According to market
sources in Durgapur, “Manufacturers
are keen to clear stocks ahead of March end. But going forward we may see a
price hike in April as power tariff is expected to move up further by 20-25
paise/unit.”

Export grade 65/15 is quoted at $1100/MT FOB Vizag.
According to a top official from an export oriented firm in Kolkata, “Indian
exporters are carrying sufficient stocks which they want to clear off by the
March end. And, buyers want to reap benefit out of it and they have lowered their
expectations further. So, market is stable with no big deals being concluded so
far.”

Speaking about the future outlook he added, “There will be power shortage during summers and power tariff will also move up. For example in
Vizag it is expected to move up by 30% and touch Rs 6.2/unit which will a major
blow for the power intensive industries like Ferro alloys. So, we expect that
market will definitely pick up in April.”

Ferro Manganese

Ferro manganese prices have corrected by Rs 500/MT in the
domestic market and HC 70% is quoted at Rs 54,000/MT. According to a top
official from a Ferro manganese manufacturing company in Raipur, “Buying
interest is not so high and the stock clearance drive has cut down prices a
bit. But we are quite optimistic for April, prices should remain firm. Power
tariff in Chhattisgarh may move up by Rs 1.20/unit.”

Ferro Chrome

In the domestic market, IDCOL has floated a tender for HC ferro
chrome to be closed on 14^th March. Looking at the current scenario,
we expect the bids to touch a level of Rs 74,000-75,000/MT. Price at which the previous tenders were settled were- HCFC (4/8)
Lumps at Rs 71,165/ MT and HCFC (2/8) Lumps- Rs, 73,165/MT Basic Ex-IFCAL,
Jajpur, Odisha.

In the international market, FeCr prices remained flat this week too.Indian producers were heard offering at HC FeCr at 102-103 cents/lb CIF Japan
for 60% chrome, 3.5% silicon and 7-9% carbon material for loading in late March
to April. But there were no deals reported at these rates.

Market players at present are keeping a close watch on the
announcement of the second quarter contract price negotiations between South
African charge chrome producers and European mills. Producers are said to be asking
for an increase in prices compared with Q1. The European Q1 contract price was
settled at 112.50 cents/lb, up 2.5 cents/lb from the previous quarter.