Monthly Silicon Metal Market Report Feb 2019
2019-03-13 18:20:13 【Print】
The following is a brief synopsis of the report. Your access is restricted as it is a subscription based service.
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1. Market Highlights
The Spring Festival, a traditional festival of China, came in the first week of February, so domestic and export markets nearly saw no transactions during the holiday. Many silicon metal plants in North and South China planned to cut production and conduct maintenance before the holiday, so transactions in the market were limited. In domestic market, the operating rate of producers in South China, especially that in Fujian, increased sharply, and they mainly produced high grade silicon metal. Thus, the output of the material surged. The market saw more enquiries after the Spring Festival and less stocks after logistic companies started operation. The tight supply of some kinds of silicon metals caused low grade silicon metal prices to edge up by RMB100/t (USD14.91/t). Although downstream operating rate has been growing, the market saw sluggish transactions due to the weakened demand. Thus, silicon metal prices failed to rise further. In late February, upstream suppliers and downstream consumers were in stalemate. As for the export market, foreign consumers mainly sent enquiries in the week after the Spring Festival as they had built stocks before the holiday, so the market saw limited transactions. Encouraged by the increased prices in China, overseas consumers began to make purchases actively in the second week, and thus the export market saw more transactions. Besides, RMB continued to appreciate. Thus, export prices rose from those before the Spring Festival. Some traders began to wait on the sidelines and were in no hurry to make purchases after the increase of export prices in view of the weak demand. Therefore, transactions reduced.
The Spring Festival, a traditional festival of China, came in the first week of February, so domestic and export markets nearly saw no transactions during the holiday. Many silicon metal plants in North and South China planned to cut production and conduct maintenance before the holiday, so transactions in the market were limited. In domestic market, the operating rate of producers in South China, especially that in Fujian, increased sharply, and they mainly produced high grade silicon metal. Thus, the output of the material surged. The market saw more enquiries after the Spring Festival and less stocks after logistic companies started operation. The tight supply of some kinds of silicon metals caused low grade silicon metal prices to edge up by RMB100/t (USD14.91/t). Although downstream operating rate has been growing, the market saw sluggish transactions due to the weakened demand. Thus, silicon metal prices failed to rise further. In late February, upstream suppliers and downstream consumers were in stalemate. As for the export market, foreign consumers mainly sent enquiries in the week after the Spring Festival as they had built stocks before the holiday, so the market saw limited transactions. Encouraged by the increased prices in China, overseas consumers began to make purchases actively in the second week, and thus the export market saw more transactions. Besides, RMB continued to appreciate. Thus, export prices rose from those before the Spring Festival. Some traders began to wait on the sidelines and were in no hurry to make purchases after the increase of export prices in view of the weak demand. Therefore, transactions reduced.
