Chinese ferro chrome market remained stable this week with no apparent changes as major stainless-steel mills are yet to roll out tenders. Currently, only a few special steel mills announced the October tender price which is not so upbeat, and curbing the market from trending up.
HC ferro chrome prices: The mainstream Ferro chrome prices in Inner-Mongolia area are at RMB 5,800-6,000/t ($ 850-880/t) for HC 50%, ex-plant, cash including tax. The mainstream price in Sichuan area is at RMB 5,900-6,100/ t ($865-894/t) for HC 50pc, ex-plant including tax. The delivered, tax inclusive prices in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shanghai area offered by traders are at RMB6,200-6,400/t ($909-938/t) for HC 60%. Prices compared with previous week remained stable but low prices are increasingly difficult to be found, though high prices are not traded smoothly either.
Steel mill tenders:
During this week, Valin pipes announced its HC ferro chrome tender price for early October at RMB 7,190/t ($1054/t) for HC 55%, delivered, acceptance including tax. (equivalent to RMB 6,536.35/t ($958/t) for HC 50%), up RMB 40/t ($6/t) for HC 55% for 64t. Today, Citic Pacific special steel confirmed its HC ferro chrome tender price for Oct at RMB 6,420-6,550/t ($ 941-960/t) for HC 50%, delivered, acceptance, including tax, up RMB 10-40/ t for HC 50% m-o-m for 2,500t, down by 1,900t m-o-m.
Stimulated by the slight hike in chrome ore price both in future deliverable and spot market, most alloy plants are in production to deliver orders, resulting in improved sentiments to accept higher prices. The retail price is also moving up amid the bullish expectation for price hike amongst participants. But as the situation stands, the available tender prices confirmed by some special steel mills only increased by RMB 50/t for HC 50%. However, the Oct tender to be floated by major stainless-steel mills are yet to surface, reflecting cautious positions held by the downstream industry. In Aug the output of HC ferro chrome in main producing area was 511,200t, a relatively high level of yield, which coupled with the considerable import volume 370,000t in Aug may put a damper on the alloy price and one may not look to a notable price hike out of optimism. The market will gain more clarity once the major stainless steel mills confirm their tender prices.
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