India: Medium-carbon silico manganese prices decline w-o-w as buyers secure lower-priced deals

• Bulk deals concluded below prevailing offer levels
• Competitive negotiations pressure executable market prices

Indian medium-carbon silico manganese (Mn 53%, Si 20%, C max 0.5%) prices declined by INR 400/t ($4/t) w-o-w to INR 88,100/t ($922/t) ex-works Durgapur on 6 August. Suppliers continued to quote largely unchanged offers at INR 87,600-89,100/t ($917-932/t). However, a 3,000-t deal was concluded at INR 87,500/t, while another 600-t deal was finalised at INR 89,000/t, resulting in a lower weekly market assessment.

Factors affecting prices

Bulk deals concluded below prevailing offer levels: Domestic medium-carbon silico manganese prices eased this week after sizeable transactions were concluded below prevailing market offers. Although suppliers largely maintained their quoted range, negotiations on higher volumes resulted in lower executable prices.

A seller told BigMint, “Our indicative offers remain largely unchanged, but for bulk quantities, buyers are negotiating aggressively. To conclude sizeable business, some adjustment in transaction prices becomes inevitable.” These transactions established a softer benchmark for the domestic market, pulling the weekly assessment lower.

Competitive negotiations pressure executable market prices: Trading activity remained healthy during the week, with enquiries and deal-making continuing across the market. However, buyers leveraged their stronger negotiating position to secure discounts on bulk purchases, while suppliers preferred negotiating transaction prices rather than formally revising their offers. Consequently, the gap between indicative quotations and concluded deals widened, exerting downward pressure on the assessed price. Market participants noted that buyers increasingly focused on executable prices rather than quoted offers, leading to a softer market despite suppliers’ efforts to maintain pricing discipline.

Outlook

BigMint expects medium-carbon silico manganese prices to remain under mild pressure in the near term, as buyers are likely to continue negotiating lower executable prices for bulk volumes despite suppliers maintaining firm indicative offers.