Bhutan ferro silicon prices stable w-o-w on improved inquiries, Indian market volatile

Bhutan's ferro silicon weekly average prices remained stable this week amid healthy bookings from buyers.

After having seen ample amount of transactions booked mainly by domestic stockiests and traders at lower offers of INR 135,000/t exw floated at the start of the month, Bhutanese producers raised offers to the same levels as last week's.

According to SteelMint's assessment on 5 August 2022, Bhutanese producers are offering Si-70% at around INR 140,000/t-INR 144,000/t exw.

Indian market overview

Indian ferro silicon prices have been continuously sliding since past few weeks owing to limited trade in the domestic market. The weekly average prices fell by INR 7,200/t.

Inquiries from end users were limited as they were anticipating a correction in prices as imported prices were comaparatively lower against domestic offers. This coupled with weak steel and ferro alloys market w-o-w led to the price fall.

Despite this, Guwahati's smelters followed the Bhutan market trend and offered at around INR 145,000/t exw. Meanwhile, there were sellers who offered at lower levels of INR 135,000-INR 140,000/t on exw basis, as assessed on 5 August 2022, to get assured longer-term business.

China's market overview

Ferro silicon prices (75%) in China fell by RMB 50/t ($7.4/t) w-o-w to RMB 7,850/t ($1,162/t) ex-Inner Mongolia due to the sudden shutdown of the silicon mills in few provinces, resulting in fall in production.

Ferro silicon futures for September delivery on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) declined by 2% to close at RMB 7,792/t ($1,153/t) on 5 August despite production curbs.

Outlook
Market insiders feel that most sellers may raise offers in the coming weeks. However, it is to be seen how buyers react to the increased prices. If they refuse to book at higher levels, prices may fall amid selling pressure.