- 5,000 t of trades concluded last week
- Stainless steel prices stable w-o-w
Indian high-carbon ferro chrome (HC60%, Si:4%) prices remained largely stable, edging down marginally by INR 300/t ($4/t) as compared to the last assessment on 2 July. Prices held steady as the market did not witness any major fluctuation and routine trade activity was seen.
As per BigMint’s assessment on 9 July, high-carbon ferro chrome (HC60%, Si:4%) prices in India were INR 99,500/t ($1,163/t) exw-Jajpur. Close to around 5,000 of trades were recorded last week in the price bracket of INR 99,000-101,500/t ($1,157-1,186/t) exw.
For low-silicon high-carbon and low-carbon (C:0.1%) ferro chrome, prices fell by INR 900/t ($11/t) and INR 700/t ($8/t) w-o-w to INR 103,400/t ($1,209/t) exw-Jajpur and INR 198,300/t ($2,318/t) exw-Durgapur.
Market highlights (3-9 July 2025)
Prices supported by steady trades: As seen in the trade volumes last week, prices held steady and didn’t witnessed any major changes. Counter from buyers still stayed lower at around INR 98,000-99,000/t ($1,145-1,157/t) but sellers were firm on offer prices of INR 99,000/t ($1,157/t) exw and above.
A seller was recently quoted as saying to BigMint, “I have limited quantities to sell and will offer only above INR 99,500/t ($1,163/t) exw levels.”
Another seller informed that market will likely stay like this and might pick up pace from September onwards.
China’s market trends: Ferro chrome (HC60%) prices in China stayed unchanged w-o-w at RMB 7,850/t ($1,093/t) exw-Inner Mongolia.
Chrome ore prices stayed volatile because of limited supply. South Africa allowed more exports, and with winter mining restrictions approaching, supplies might get reduced. But because there is already a lot of stock at ports and Turkish ore is expensive, buyers only purchased when necessary.
Inner Mongolia still had lower costs due to cheap power, keeping regional prices different. Zimbabwe also supplied less high-quality ore, which may increase production costs for some ferro chrome sellers.
On the demand side, stainless steel sales were slow because of weak real estate and export demand.
Overall, prices may move up slightly but won’t rise much due to low demand.
Indian stainless steel market: Stainless steel prices for 304 grade HRC were steady w-o-w at INR 184,000/t ($2,151/t) exw-Mumbai.
Three-month nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) stood at $15,000/t, showing a drop of 2% from last week’s $15,265/t. Nickel stocks in LME-registered warehouses stood at 202,620 t, range-bound compared to 203,886 t in the previous week.
Overall, demand was weak, but improvement is expected post-monsoon with rising construction activities.
Outlook
In the near term, prices are likely to stay rangebound with some fluctuations. OMC’s chrome ore auction is likely to be scheduled next week which will further determine the price trajectory.
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