Chinese ferrochrome market weakens
2008-11-17 09:20:47 【Print】
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 17 Nov 08 - Currently Chinese ferrochrome market stays weak, as most domestic buyers are not interested in purchasing any materials.
A Liaoning-based producer with the current output of 200tpm out of its production capacity of 800tpm reported to Asian Metal that at present the demand for ferrochrome keeps weak, and they received few enquiries from domestic buyers. "Most buyers believe that the market will continue to go down in the coming days, so they have little intention of purchasing any materials now," said the source.
The source offered RMB14,500/t (USD2,071/t) ex works for low carbon ferrochrome 60%, C 0.1%max and RMB15,500/t (USD2,214/t) ex works for low carbon ferrochrome 60%, C 0.06%max recently, but they only sold few materials at such prices. "We do not want to purchase chrome ore due to the risky market trend and sluggish steel market," said the source.
A Liaoning-based trader confirmed the weak demand from domestic buyers. According to the source, during the second quarter of this year, they sold about 3,000tpm for ferrochrome, but they only sold 200t of ferrochrome in October. "The price keeps decreasing affected by the sluggish steel market."
The source offered for high carbon ferrochrome 50% at about RMB7,200-7,500/t (USD1,029-1,071/t) delivered and low carbon ferrochrome 60%, C 0.06%max at about RMB15,300/t (USD2,186/t) delivered recently.
A Henan-based producer with the current output of 1,000tpm reported that although they still hold 3,000t of high carbon ferrochrome on hand at the moment, they do not want to sell their materials due to the low ferrochrome price. "We are waiting for the market to recover, but I do not know when the market could warm up," said the source.
