[Ferro-Alloys.Com]Pakistan plays an important role in the export of chrome ore worldwide. The export volume of chrome ore exceeded 490,000 tons in 2012 and 2013, which accounted for 3.9% and 3.2% of the world’s total export volume accordingly, most of which are exported to China and South Korea. The export volume of chrome ore exported to China is unstable, but more than 92% has been exported to China since 2006. It even exceeded 97% in the recent two years.

 

The export volume of chrome ore from Pakistan to China is 167,288 tons in the first half of 2014, and the volume is 261,423 tons over the comparable period last year, which falls by 36%. The average price is USD239/t, which rose by USD12/t and USD13/t compared to 2012 and 2013 respectively.

 

From the chart (Chart II) we could see that, as the export volume increased during the five years between 2004 and 2008 and peaked around in 2009 at USD482/t, which is USD338 higher than that of 2004, the average price for the chrome ore continued rising. The price of the chrome ore of Pakistan increased too far, which is one of the reasons why China declined the export of chrome ore from Pakistan sharply. In the recent 5 years, the average price of chrome ore from Pakistan fell annually, particularly in 2012 and 2013 when the price fell down to the lowest in the last 7 years at USD226-227/T. China increased the export from Pakistan significantly in 2012 and 2013 for the low price. The price of China’s ferrochrome continued falling in the last few years because many companies expanded the capability too aggressively. Consequentially the producers are doing their utmost to control the costs by searching for cost-effective chrome ore globally.

 

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