Indian ferrosilicon prices remained unchanged w-o-w owing to healthy demand from domestic steel mills. Most of the producers are fully booked and have good inquiries in the domestic market. There is a scarcity of material in the market and thus the prices are stable on the higher side.
Currently, prices in Bhutan are at INR 100,000/t and in Guwahati at INR 101,000/t ex-works. Meanwhile, export prices slid slightly by $10/t to $1,440/t Fob-Kolkata on US dollar appreciation.
Key highlights of the week
Bhutanese shipments delayed by 15 days
Dispatches from Bhutan are delayed by 15 days as the borders remained sealed due to Indian elections. Therefore, most Bhutanese producers are expected to remain out of the market till that time. However, Bhutanese producers reported that despite the delay in shipments, they have very healthy demand from the Indian market. Increased Mild steel prices have also provided better support to higher prices.
Producers in Meghalaya facing power issues
Ferrosilicon producers in Meghalaya are facing severe load shedding problems and the production for smelters with no captive power is down by around 20%. Producers shared with SteelMint that the grade of the material keeps getting affected due to the load shedding, and to mitigate the material grade defect, they need to consume more power.
Labour issues from Bhutan refrained producers from taking export orders
Although there is an increased inquiry from the export market, Bhutanese producers cannot cater to the demand as they are facing labour problems, due to which sizing and packing of the materials is an issue for the producers and they cannot cater to the specific size requirement of the European consumers.
Leave a Reply