[Ferro-Alloys.com]The price of ferrochrome has been decreasing since March 2014. September and October are supposed to be best time for the ferrochrome market every year, but this year seems to be an exception. The increasing output for ferrochrome poses great threat to the price. The ferrochrome price decreases by ￥50/mt each month for August and September. The new tender price of some steel mills for October definitely reflects the downtrend of the ferrochrome. 

 

The price of chrome ore from Turkey keeps strong at what it was in the Q4, 2013 since 2014. South Africa increased its chrome ore price in Q2 and Q3 due to its domestic strike in the first half of the year. China’s large scale producers, especially for those who are located in Inner Mongolia, have maintained a high operation rate due to their low power price, location advantage. The ferrochrome producers have to face a great challenge to control the costs under such market environment. Some of the producers are forced to cut their operation rate ore even shut down their plants.

 

The price of chrome ore has been increasing since the beginning of 2014, while the ferrochrome price has been decreasing. The operation rate for medium- and small-scale manufacturers keeps falling, which makes a weak demand for the chrome ore. The imported chrome ore volume declined over the same period last year. In the first eight months of 2014, the volume of imported chrome ore is 6,593,772 mt, down 17.9% over the same period last year.

 

The stock for chrome ore remains low at 2,150,000-2,200,000 mt in August and September, because of the declining volume of the import in last few months. The stock increased from 2,050,000 mt in July due to the weak demand caused by low operation rate of the medium- and small-scale producers under the downtrend of ferrochrome price.

 

In the end of September, most of China’s large manufactures, especially for those who are located in North China, kept a high operation. Meanwhile, the imported ferrochrome increased to 1,426,577 mt, up 31% compared to the same period last year, especially for those from South Africa. The downstream demand seemed weak compared to the large supply. The rebound for the ferrochrome hardly can be seen in 2014 under such environment.

 

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