India: Ferro chrome prices remain flat, domestic buying regains momentum

Indian ferro chrome prices remained flat w-o-w on good domestic demand. Meanwhile, Indian sellers are waiting for the exports demand to pick up.

Although the mean price of Indian ferro chrome remained stable in the domestic market, offers increased at the higher end of the spectrum. Many major players received enough export orders and are offering at higher prices in the domestic market.

Price assessments:
Current Indian prices range from INR 105,000-115,000/t ($1,387-1,519/t), with majority of deals being concluded at a median price of INR 110,000/t ($1,453/t). The lowest range of prices is exclusively quoted by one producer as it remains active in disposing of inventories.

Indian exports to China are at around cents 112-115/lb CNF Tianjin, with tepid buying in the spot market. Meanwhile, long-term contracts are being inked as usual.

Factors that may trigger further hike in prices

• Major domestic buyers floated inquiries for bulk orders: Most of the Indian ferro chrome buyers were waiting for Chinese stainless-steel mills to release their ferro chrome procurement tenders. While in this process, the inventory available with the suppliers went low as they kept deferring their purchases in expectation of lower prices.
  
  

Thus, even though the prices in the ferro chrome auctions reduced by RMB 895/t ($140/t), domestic prices did not get impacted much. Instead, a large producer got higher price bookings in its recently concluded auction, which was INR 1,000/t higher than the domestic prices. This, however, increased the confidence of the sellers, and a major player increased prices by up to INR 115,000/t exw.

• South Africa chrome ore prices rise: South African chrome ore prices at Chinese ports increased on lower inventory. UG2 prices increased by $5/t to $170/t w-o-w on CNF China. Meanwhile, the Omicron variant in South Africa has disturbed the trade flow and many buyers are more interested in reserving their stock of chrome ore in case a future lockdown happens.
  
  

Meanwhile, a major south African ferro chrome smelter declared its ferro chrome prices today at 180cents/lb, which is a five-year high. These prices have been actually rolled over from the last quarter on expectations of improved demand.

Outlook

The market remains chaotic as chrome ore prices are rising, but these are not providing any support to the Chinese ferro chrome prices. Thus, Chinese buying is limited in the spot market, which might deter the Indian price trend soon.