India: Ferro chrome prices down by INR 500/t owing to Chinese correction

Indian ferro chrome price has reduced marginally owing to rising selling pressure on the domestic producers. The shrink in demand from China has led to the allocation of greater quantity in the domestic market. Since, India relies heavily on export of ferro chrome, with almost 50% of the production exported, this situation of zero export demand is taking a toll on the Indian ferro chrome producers.

Major Stainless-steel mills released their purchase tender prices for ferro chrome which is down by RMB 300/t in this month. The month-on-month drop of RMB 300/t is basically due to the downward trend of steel. Therefore, after the introduction of the new round of prices, the market quotation has not been significantly adjusted.

Chrome ore dispatches from TATA Steel and OMC both are out of the market for the past two months. OMC is only fulfilling its earlier auction commitments. However, this supply shortage of chrome ore hasn't had much impact in terms of prices yet, as many smaller producers are either not operating or have switched to manganese alloys.

Current Assessments:
Ex-Jajpur: INR 60,000-61,000/t,
CNF China: cents 66.5/lb,
CNF Japan: cents 70/lb, and
CNF South Korea: cents 69/lb

Outlook:
Scarcity of raw materials might put a brake on the ferro chrome prices from falling further. Moreover, with the stainless steel market improving in both India and China there is a growing sense of optimism among the ferro chrome producers in India.