[Ferro-Alloys.com]Silico manganese prices fell this week, after a short recovery. There was decline in demand from end-users with an anticipation of further price drops.

Domestic Silico Manganese prices eased due to slow demand. Earlier, Indian producers had raised their offers as there was some shortage of material. This week producers had to again cut their offers as demand for Silico Manganese is very poor. Grade 60-14 is currently being offered at around INR 47,000/MT (ex-Raipur) and INR 47,500/MT (ex-Durgapur).

“The whole demand situation for Silico Manganese is so bad now and it’s really down due to the drab performance of the steel market,” stated a Raipur based producer.

SAIL Tender

In April SAIL had issued a tender to procure a tentative quantity of 37,100 MT of Silico Manganese for its diffferent plants to be delivered in four months. The Techno-commercial bid reavealed that 11 plants participated in the tender. Market participants are awaiting the results of this tender to provide further direction to the market. SAIL consumes approximately 80,000 MT of Silico Manganese annually.

Export Offers remain unchanged

Related Media assessed, weak demand has kept Silico manganese prices unchanged in the export market. Grade 60-14 is being offered at around USD 730/MT FoB East Coast India and 65-16 grade at around USD 820/MT, FoB East Coast India. There were number of inquiries from South-East Asian and Middle East Countries but there were no confirmed deals.

A Kolkata based producer remarked, “With the Rupee depreciating against the dollar, we had earlier cut the offers to achieve better trade. Still there are only inquires in the market and no confirmed deals.”

On the future trend, however, there is acknowledgement demand will slow and prices may fall in the next two weeks.

Exchange Rate : USD 1 = INR 63.6

• [Editor:Sophie]