- Demand from steel sector remains soft
- Chrome ore prices remain stable w-o-w
CBC: The ferro chrome market remained largely stable w-o-w, with a slight uptick in high-carbon prices, while medium-carbon tags remained unchanged.
High-carbon ferro chrome: Prices stood at RMB 7,600-8,000/t ($1,052-1,107/t) exw, including taxes, up by RMB 200/t ($28/t) w-o-w.
Medium-carbon ferro chrome: Prices stood stable w-o-w at RMB 12,000-12,200/t ($1,660-1,688/t) exw, including taxes.
Factors driving market
Chrome ore market stabilises: Chrome ore prices remained stable following a post-holiday surge. The tight supply that initially drove up spot prices eased, and with supply conditions normalising, prices found equilibrium.
Additionally, recently, bids from major steel mills were flat, interrupting the previous trend of price cuts and providing support for chrome ore and ferro chrome products. Despite this stability, fluctuations in chrome ore prices remain a concern as supply-demand dynamics continue to evolve.
Demand from steel sector softens: The steel market, which initially saw some improvement due to domestic policy support, continued to face challenges. The supply-demand imbalance persisted, and steel production was below expectations. Additionally, the pace of steel mill bidding remained slow.
This resulted in reduced demand for ferro chrome, as steel mills curbed production. As a consequence, ferro chrome trades were sluggish, and demand from the steel sector is expected to remain weak in the short term.
Outlook
The ferro chrome market is likely to remain subdued with minimal price fluctuations, driven by ongoing weak demand and slow recovery in the steel industry.
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