Weekly round-up: Limited demand keeps ferro alloys prices rangebound

Domestic ferroalloys prices remained rangebound this week on limited demand. As a result of mixed sentiments on the international market, ferro alloys demand remained soft. There was a marginal decline in manganese alloys and ferrosilicon prices this week. Nevertheless, ferro chrome prices remained stable due to the acceptance of prices quoted by the major mills. Few overseas enquiries for manganese alloys resulted in relatively weak demand for ferro alloys, SteelMint notes.

Manganese ore
Global manganese ore import prices across grades were rangebound w-o-w at $4.2/dmtu for grade (Mn 37%), $4.6/dmtu for grade (Mn 44%), and $4.95/dmtu for grade (Mn 46%). Manganese ore prices remained rangebound as a result of low demand and production. In the short term, manganese ore prices may remain weak despite selling pressure from miners.

IEX power prices
According to IEX (Indian Energy Exchange) weekly average spot prices (2-8 October) in the day-ahead market dropped 23% at INR 3.807/unit on a weekly basis. This came after power consumption dropped to 4,005 million units/day (MU/day) this week as against 4,125 MU/day in the previous week, thereby negating concerns of shortage during the festive season.

Silico manganese
Prices of silico manganese, exported from Haldia and Vizag ports, edged lower. The 60-14 grade was down 2% w-o-w to $890/t, while the 65-16 grade was down 3% to $985/t amid low enquiries.

On the other hand, silico manganese prices were rangebound w-o-w, down 1% at INR 71,425/t ex-Durgapur, INR 7,1850/t ex-Vizag, and INR 72,320/t ex-Raipur. Low domestic demand caused silico manganese prices to stay stable, which caused many mills to reduce production in order to recover their costs.

Ferro manganese
Exported ferro manganese prices were rangebound at $905/t FOB for HC 70%. Prices of HC 75% grade was down 1% to $996/t. Meanwhile, domestic ferro manganese prices fell by 1% w-o-w to INR 74,059/t ex-Durgapur, while ex-Raipur prices dropped to INR 74,025/t. Special steels and stainless steels saw limited demand and so prices did not find support.

Ferro chrome
Domestic ferro chrome (HC60%) demand was moderate as sellers tried to push prices higher. In addition, buyers were not interested in booking material as transportation was disrupted during the festive holidays. Meanwhile, some buyers were waiting for Vedanta's ferro chrome auction. According to SteelMint assessment on 6 October, ferro chrome producers were offering HC60% material at around INR 96,000-97,000/t exw Odisha.

Ferro silicon
According to SteelMint's assessment on 7 October, Bhutanese producers started offering ferro silicon (70%) at INR 135,000/t and Guwahati produces followed suit amid limited trading as some buyers were in wait-and-watch mode on expectation of further price drop. Moreover, a majority of market participants were inactive due to the festive holidays resulting in weak demand this week.

Trade
SteelMint recorded bulk trades of around 9,000 t of ferro alloys this week, out of which manganese deals comprised around 8,200 t, 300 t were of ferro chrome and 500 t of ferro silicon.

Tender and auction

• JSW Steel Limited booked 6,000t ferro manganese (HC70%) at around INR 76,000/t FOR for its Bellary plant while 400t of ferro manganese were booked at around INR 77,000/t FOR for its Salem Steel plant through an auction conducted on 7 October.
  
  
• Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) has floated a supply tender for 1,700 t of medium-carbon ferro manganese (10-50 mm, Mn min 78%, C 1.5%) from its Gujarat-based plant. The last date for bid submission is 8 October.
  
  
• Vedanta subsidiary Ferro Alloys Corporation Limited (FACOR) has scheduled an auction for different sizes of high-carbon ferro chrome on 10 October.
  
  
• Sandur mines (SMIORE), Karnataka will conduct two manganese ore auctions for different grades of ore (Mn 20-34%) of 5,040 t and 22,680 t on 10 October and 11 October on the MSTC Karnataka platform.
  
  
• State-owned SAIL has invited a purchase tender for 18,500 t of silico manganese (60-15, size:25-50mm) for its IISCO Steel Plant, Burnpur, West Bengal. The last date of bid submission is 14 October.