Weekly round-up: Ferro alloys market shows mixed trends

Domestic ferro alloys market has shown a mixed trend this week amid selling pressure owing to price fluctuations, SteelMint understands.

Manganese ore

Global manganese ore import prices rose by 4.8% w-o-w to $5.50/dmtu for grade 37% while grade 44% prices were stable at $7.50/dmtu and grade 46% at $8.0/dmtu.
Overall, the manganese ore market was sluggish due to weak downstream alloys sentiments.

IEX power prices

According to Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), weekly average spot power prices (12 June-18 June) in the day-ahead market increased by 10% w-o-w to INR 7.705/unit as against INR 7.03/unit last week. Prices were supported by higher power consumption which was assessed above 4.5 billion units/day (BU/day) levels this week as against 4.4 BU/day in May.

Silico manganese
Exported silico manganese (60-14 grade) prices inched up by 1% w-o-w to $1,050/t and by 1% to $1,200/t for 65-16 grade at Indian ports amid muted demand from importing countries. Meanwhile, domestic silico manganese prices rose by 2% to INR 79,680 /t ex-Durgapur, INR 80,260/t ex-Vizag and INR 81,800/t ex-Raipur (up 4%).

Ferro manganese
Exported ferro manganese prices were marginally up by 1% to $1,115/t for HC 70% and fell by 5% to $1,200/t for HC 75% grade. Meanwhile, domestic ferro manganese prices rose by 2% to INR 87,000/t ex-Durgapur and by 9% to INR 88,200/t ex-Raipur.

Ferro chrome
According to the assessment on 16 June 2022, ferro chrome (HC60%) prices were at around INR 107,000-108,000/t exw-Jajpur, dropping by INR 2,450/t w-o-w amidst higher selling pressure and low demand as smelters received limited inquiries this week since most buyers were awaiting Vedanta's ferro chrome auction. Muted export demand amid dull sentiments and selling pressure led to a price drop.

Ferro silicon
Indian ferro silicon (70%) prices bounced back by INR 8,000/t w-o-w on healthy buying inquires in hopes of supply disruption as a few of plants in Bhutan are set to go under maintenance. According to SteelMint assessment on 16 June 2022, Guwahati producers were offering at INR 133,000/t exw while Bhutan's offers were at around INR 134,000/t exw. Additionally, the rains and supply disruptions added to panic buying by those who ran out of stocks. This also prompted producers to raise their offers.

Trade
SteelMint recorded around 6,200 t of bulk ferro alloys deals this week out of which manganese alloys deals account for 3,200 t and and the rest are ferro chrome (3,000 t).

Tenders and auctions-

• State-owned long steel producer RINL-Vizag Steel has invited bids for procurement of ferro silicon of 4,800 t (Si-70%) of size: 40 - 100 mm and 1,000 t (Si-70%) of size: 25 - 50 mm. The last date of bid submission is 22 June 2022.
  
  
• SAIL's Chandrapur Ferro Alloys Plant (CFP) has scheduled an auction for 700 t of silico manganese (Mn 52-57%, 0-3mm, 3-10mm) on 21 June.
  
  
• State-owned SAIL has issued a purchase tender for 2,700 t of HC ferro manganese (Mn70%, 25-50 mm) from its IISCO Steel Plant (ISP). The last date for bid submission is 23 June 2022.
  
  
• State-run RINL booked 2,500 t of silico manganese (63-19, 25-50mm) at INR 86,281/t delivered to plant (inclusive of all charges) through its reverse auction conducted on 13 June 2022.
  
  
• State-run miner OMC concluded an auction for 54,300 t of chrome ore on 17 June. Out of the total quantity, only 17,300 t of the material was booked at close to the base price, sources informed.
  
  
• Vedanta-FACOR's auction for ferro chrome received aggressive bidding. The bigger lot of 10-150 mm fetched an H1 price of INR 108,700/t ex-Jajpur, Odisha.