MySteel Global: China’s imports of high-carbon ferro chrome in July increased by 14.1% on month to stand at 226,969 tonnes, marking for the second consecutive on-month increase, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs (GACC). Compared with July last year though, the import volume slumped by 25.8%, the data show.
South Africa consolidated its position as China’s top supplier, with shipments of 108,600 tonnes in July. While the absolute volume remained slim, this represented a substantial on-month increase of 47.5%. In contrast, shipments from Kazakhstan – China’s second largest supplier – fell by 22.8% over the same period and totalled 78,900 tonnes.
China’s inflows of ferro chrome have continued to increase on the back of solid domestic demand, Mysteel Global noted. This was driven particularly by an on-month rise of 2.4% or 13,400 tonnes in the country’s output of ferritic crude stainless during July, which reached 571,700 tonnes, according to the results of a Mysteel survey among the 43 stainless producers it regularly tracks nationwide. As high-carbon ferro chrome is a critical input for stainless steel, especially ferritic grade, so the rise in stainless output has directly fuelled demand for this ferro alloy.
Moreover, the country’s total crude stainless output last month remained high at around 3.21 million tonnes, the Mysteel survey results show.
Nonetheless, high domestic production of the ferro alloy, combined with low shipments from South Africa, should limit China’s ferro chrome imports in the near term, according to an industry insider based in East China’s Wuxi city.
In August, the high output level of domestic high-carbon ferro chrome is likely to persist as improving profit margins at smelters have encouraged them to produce aggressively, he explained.
Mysteel’s latest assessments suggest that by 26 August, the average profit margin for producing high-carbon ferro chrome using the semi-closed submerged arc furnace-electric furnace route had risen to 5.2% in Inner Mongolia, China’s primary production hub. This is significantly higher than the previous month’s 3% average margin.
Meanwhile, the production suspension announced in spring by the world’s top ferro chrome producer, Glencore, will also have a dampening effect on shipment volumes to China, the industry insider commented.
“Glencore halted ferro chrome production at its South African smelters in April in response to weak global demand,” he said, adding that the move was aimed at boosting profits from chrome ore sales instead.
China’s imports of high-carbon ferro chrome totalled 1.67 million tonnes in the first seven months of 2025, down 25.8% y-o-y, the GACC data show.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.
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