Weekly round-up: Ferro alloys prices remain steady w-o-w amid sluggish market sentiments
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Ferro alloys prices in the domestic market remained steady this week. Demand for all sub-commodities was weak in both the domestic and international markets.
Manganese ore
The manganese ore market was steady throughout the week. Import prices for Mn: 44-46% grade into India were stable w-o-w. Prices of Mn37% grade were at $4.1/dmtu, unchanged w-o-w; Mn44% at $4.95/dmtu, while Mn46% at $5.3/dmtu. All prices were CNF India.
IEX power
According to the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), the weekly average spot prices (30 April-6 May) in day-ahead-market registered a further sharp drop of 21% w-o-w to INR 3.301/unit as against INR INR 4.16/unit last week. Prices have been consistently falling amid the cooler weather condition which brought down demand for power.
Silico manganese
Export prices of silico manganese from Haldia and Vizag ports went down marginally by 1% w-o-w. Prices of the 60-14 grade were down by 2% w-o-w to $908/t while those of 65-16 grade edged up by 1% to $1,006/t. Limited demand and liquidity crunch led to a drop in export prices.
Domestic prices remained unchanged w-o-w at INR 72,680/t ex-Durgapur, INR 73,700/t ex-Vizag, and INR 73,100/t ex-Raipur. Due to sluggish domestic demand and limited export inquiries, silico manganese prices remained stable.
Additionally, low steel consumption caused material to be stockpiled for a few months, which decreased demand and compelled producers to drop silico manganese offers.
Ferro manganese
India's exported ferro manganese prices inched down by 1% w-o-w to $932/t FOB for HC70% and prices for HC75% dropped by 2% w-o-w to $1,006/t FOB.
Domestic ferro manganese prices were unchanged w-o-w at INR 76,000/t ex-Durgapur and ex-Raipur. Ferro manganese prices were steady as demand for special steel shrank.
Ferro chrome
Indian ferro chrome prices rose by INR 2,000/t w-o-w as supply concerns in the domestic market fuelled worries among buyers. Stainless steel producers who are end users of ferro chrome started accepting higher offers. About 2,500 t of deals were concluded at INR 106,000-108,000/t this week.
In the wake of an unexpected reason, one of India's leading ferro chrome manufacturers, has halted operations at its facility. While few other producers were looking for chances in the export market, several producers held back bids in anticipation of a further price increase due to supply concerns. This led to a 10-20% supply deficit of material this week, which caused market panic. Due to this, customers who ran out of ferro chrome had to pay more for their purchases.
Ferro silicon
Ferro silicon (70%) prices hovered at INR 123,000-125,000/t exw, both from Guwahati and Bhutan. However, only a few transactions were concluded since buyers adopted a wait-and-see attitude for Bhutan's producers to announce fresh offers.
Ferro silicon prices remained stable this week with just minor fluctuations. Buyers refused to accept higher prices floated by manufacturers to make up for reduced profits due to production cuts in Guwahati.
Trade
SteelMint recorded bulk deals of around 7,240 t of ferro alloys this week. Out of this, manganese deals comprised 2,690 t, ferro chrome 2,550 t, and ferro silicon around 2,000 t.
Tender and auctions
