Indian ferro silicon prices remain unchanged w-o-w due to weak demand, as there was a minor pause in enquiries during the month-end and market participants were waiting for the Bhutanese plants to release their new offers.
According to SteelMint’s assessment on 2 December, Guwahati-based producers are offering at around INR 122,500/t exw, while Bhutan’s offers were at INR 125,000/t exw. Meanwhile, export prices also remained stable at $1,600/t FOB.
The fact that the steel market is in stress forced buyers to the sidelines. This also kept prices at stable levels.
Furthermore, the downtrend in other ferro alloys markets (manganese alloys and ferro chrome) created a resistance in buyers to book material at current offers. As a result, market participants expect ferro silicon prices to fall as well.
Moreover, a small number of buyers have reserved material at lower prices, preventing producers from raising prices.
China market overview
Ferro silicon (75%) prices in China remained stable w-o-w at RMB 8,500/t ($1,210/t) ex-Inner Mongolia. The ferro silicon market exhibited a stable, with the futures market remaining slightly volatile while the spot market remained mostly stable. With the entry of wind vane steel mills into the market, the industry awaits future steel bidding guidance. In the short term, the price of ferro silicon is expected to be stable.
Outlook
There is increasing pressure on ferro silicon prices as demand has failed to pick up and there is growing understanding among ferro silicon producers that they might have to reduce prices further.
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