India: Ferro Silicon Prices Maintains Stability in Soft Market

Indian Ferro Silicon offers remain unchanged while market witness slowness in buying activity.

"Inquiries in the domestic market remain constant but offers have been pulled down intentionally," said a producer source pointing towards a few major mills who reduced their prices to entice buyers.

SteelMint assessed Ferro Silicon offers at INR 1,05,000/MT (Ex-Bhutan) and INR 1,06,000/MT (Ex-Guwahati).

The Chinese market has recently witnessed a slide in Ferro Silicon prices, after resuming production (50%of the production capacity) in the major Ferro Silicon producing province in China. However, against the expectation of the market participants, the commodity's price is observed to be unchanged even during the pre-Lunar Year period, where generally there is an upward spike in buying activity.

"Demand from Europe has returned but is much lower than the expected," said a producer referring to the revision of export offers at USD 1,700/MT FOB Kolkata. He further mentioned that production in Russia has started and it might return to the market very soon.

On the future outlook, Ferro Silicon offers are expected to remain stable but market participants are anticipating it to correct upwards as China will remain closed for around two weeks during their New Year festival.