India: Ferro chrome prices hit 8-month low amid subdued demand

• FACOR's auction concludes at INR 103,300/t ($1,230/t) exw
  
  
• Baosteel's tender prices fall m-o-m
  
  

Indian high-carbon ferro chrome (HC60%, Si:4%) prices fell further by INR 1,300/t ($15/t) w-o-w as compared to the previous assessment on 31 July. Prices are now at the lowest level since November last year mainly due to very limited demand along with mismatch in bids and offers.

Trends in prices

Domestic: Indian high-carbon ferro chrome (HC60%, Si:4%) prices were at INR 104,900/t ($1,249/t) exw-Jajpur, as per BigMint's assessment on 7 August. Last week, limited trades of approximately 200 tonnes (t) were reported to BigMint, with prices ranging between INR 105,000-105,500/t ($1,251-1,257/t) ex-works. Buyers were largely holding off in anticipation of FACOR's auction results for a clearer market perspective.

High-carbon low-silicon ferro chrome (HC60%, Si:2%) and low-carbon (C:0.1%) ferro chrome prices were unchanged w-o-w at INR 111,000/t ($1,322/t) exw-Jajpur and INR 219,000/t ($2,608/t) exw-Durgapur, respectively.

Export: Export prices to Japan and South Korea both fell by 1 cents/lb w-o-w to 100 cents/lb and 99 cents/lb, respectively on CNF basis. A slight drop of 0.5 cents/lb w-o-w was seen in export prices to China to 95.5 cents/lb.

Market over the week

Disparities in bids and offers: The sellers in the domestic sector who were offering material at INR 105,000-106,000/t ($1,251-1,263/t) exw last week were getting counter bids at lower levels of INR 101,000-103,500/t exw. Hence, prices were reduced but majority of the buyers were in wait-and-watch mode.

Market participants were also waiting for FACOR's auction results to know the market trends. Sellers had inventories as well which helped to bring down the prices.

Stability in China's prices: Ferro chrome (HC60%) prices in China stayed stable w-o-w at RMB 8,800/t ($1,228/t) exw-Inner Mongolia. Demand stayed less but with stable chrome ore rates, the domestic prices were not much affected.

Baosteel, a major stainless steel producer, also lowered ferro chrome tender prices by RMB 100/t ($14/t) m-o-m to RMB 8,895/t ($1,241/t).

Unchanged stainless steel prices in India: Stainless steel prices in India for 304 grade HRC saw a slight increase of INR 1,000/t ($12/t) w-o-w to INR 178,000/t ($2,120/t) exw-Mumbai. This was due to stable LME nickel prices and recent price hike by one of India's leading manufacturers.

A producer from this sector was quoted as saying to BigMint, "Demand for 300 series is good in exports but for 200 and 400 series, its slow which is impacting ferro chrome prices."

Outlook

The ferro chrome auction held late yesterday by FACOR got concluded at INR 103,300/t ($1,230/t) exw indicating a downtrend in prices. So in the coming days, prices are likely to remain under pressure.