China’s Tsingshan Group, Baosteel and Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Tisco) – the major players in the global stainless steel industry, have all reduced their purchase price of high carbon ferro chrome by a substantive 500 Yuan M-o-M to set it at around 7,250-7,500 Yuan per metric tonne (equivalent to USD 87-90 cents/lb) for Apr’18.
The fall in purchase price comes with no surprise as Ferro Chrome demand from China has been on a continuous downtrend after the Spring Festival. Moreover, this sharp fall can also be attributed to the weak Stainless Steel market in China.
Most market sources are of the view, that another reason for the reduction in purchase prices of ferro chrome is that there is ample supply of Ferro Chrome in China and domestic Chinese Ferro Chrome market has been dented by bearish sentiment on account of low demand from stainless steel mills.
SteelMint assessed that this sharp fall in purchase price is indicative of the fact that Ferro Chrome demand from China’s Stainless Steel sector is down drastically and is likely to pull down Chrome Ore prices as well. This will in-turn pressure global Ferro chrome offers to correct significantly.
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