India: Ferro silicon prices remain rangebound amid moderate demand

Indian ferro silicon prices remained rangebound with a marginal fall this week amid moderate demand, as domestic steel manufacturers are waiting for Bhutanese ferro silicon prices on 1 October after which they are expected to continue booking material for next month. They expect that the price of ferro silicon in India will follow last week's downward trend in the coming week too.

On the other hand, major Indian suppliers are trying to hike prices due to good seasonal steel demand and high cost of raw materials. However, buyers have refrained from booking material at higher prices and are negotiating hard.

India market highlights
According to SteelMint assessment, ferro silicon (70%) offers are at around INR 140,000/t exw from both Guwahati and Bhutan. There is a negative attitude among buyers as regards future price trends, and the spot market saw slow buying interest this week. Around 1,300 t of transactions were recorded this week.

Indian ferro silicon prices have been continuously sliding for the past few weeks owing to limited trades in the domestic market. The weekly average price fell marginally by INR 1,600/t (1.1%).

End-user enquiries were also limited because of the expectation of a price correction as global ferro silicon prices are comparatively lower than domestic offers. This, coupled with a dull ferro alloys market, led to the marginal fall in prices.

China market overview
Chinese ferro silicon (75%) prices, meanwhile, increased marginally by RMB 300/t (4%) w-o-w to RMB 8,400/t exw-Inner Mongolia and exw-Quinghai as per customs data. Due to the upcoming Golden Week holidays, the market is likely to remain muted in the coming week.

Ferro silicon futures on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) remained stable w-o-w at RMB 8,400/t ($1,180/t) for November deliveries, as per SteelMint assessment on 30 September.

Outlook
Buyers are currently interested in imported material, which may reduce demand for domestic material and drive down ferro silicon prices in the coming weeks due to sluggish demand.