India: Ferro silicon prices inch up in early Feb'23

Indian ferro silicon prices inched up w-o-w in early February in anticipation of material shortage due to restrictions on imported material from sellers who did not have a BIS certificate.

According to SteelMint assessment on 3 February, ferro silicon smelters in Bhutan started offering at INR 126,000/t exw. Meanwhile, Guwahati's offers were at around INR 125,000/t exw even as around 700 t of transactions were recorded this week. However, a few producers are still maintaining higher prices.

There was moderate demand from both the export and domestic markets, but a few sellers were more focused on the export market because of better returns. On 3 February, smelters offered ferro silicon at around $1,630/t FOB.

China market overview:
Chinese ferro silicon (75%) prices fell to RMB 8,400/t exw-Inner Mongolia and exw-Quinghai on 2 February. Domestic prices have been falling this week. However, prices in the main production area remained relatively stable. Steel mill bidding progress was relatively slow at the end of the year and downstream demand side has been less active. The trading environment has been cold. However, prices are expected to remain stable in the short term.

Outlook
Market participants are optimistic and it is expected that in the near term prices in Bhutan may increase too.