[Ferro-Alloys.com]Obviously, 2016 is the of chrome. Baosteel’s tender price for high-carbon ferrochrome surged from rmb4680/mt 50% cr basis in March to rmb9500/mt 50% cr basis in November, up 103 percent; TISCO’s tender price for high-carbon ferrochrome surged from rmb4680/mt 50% cr basis in February to rmb9300/mt 50% cr basis in November, up 99 percent. In the meantime, high-carbon ferrochrome prices exceeded rmb10000/mt 50% cr basis in China in mid November, hitting record high in recent 8 years, putting an end to the downtrend market since 2010. Chrome ore price for 42% cr concentrate of South African origin rose from rmb20/mtu in March to rmb71/mtu in mid November in China’s ports, up 255 percent, and from us$80/mt in March to us$360/mt in mid November, up 350 percent. Price for nickel, another major raw material for stainless steel, rose from us$7550/mt in February to us$12145/mt in mid November, up 60 percent, much less than the increase of chrome prices. The crazy prices for chrome has become one of the major reason for the stainless steel mill to cut its production.

The major reason for the skyrocketing of chrome prices is the increasing demand from stainless steel industry in China. The capacity of stainless steel in China has been increasing for years and some stainless steel mills have started producing crude stainless steel this year, which required plenty of ferrochrome, tightening the ferrochrome supply. Other major factors for the surging chrome prices are the declining stock of chrome ores in China’s ports, the disrupt ferrochrome industry, the appreciation of Rand and the relief of default crisis of Glencore, and etc. Chrome prices are still in the uptrend channel, testing the maximum. For the stainless steel production remains normal, the chrome prices are supposed to remain in the uptrend channel in the coming month.