[Ferro-alloys.com] The end of this week meant the end of August, which enabled massive bids for ferrosilicon for September delivery, including HBIS, Shagang Group, TISCO and Magang Group, etc. In terms of purchase volumes, some steel mills reduced volumes and some kept flat volume. The main stream ex-work tax-inclusive prices remained steady, with FeSi75# being RMB5,850-5,950/mt(USD952-969/mt) and FeSi72# being RMB5,500-5,600/mt(USD895-912/mt). The new projects of ferrosilicon were expected to gradually come on stream in September in China’s Ningxia Hui Region.

Export market ran low this week. The situation of foreign inquiries seemed sluggish, and foreign ferrosilicon buyers tried hard to slash the purchase price. Export price of ferrosilicon ranged from the lowest of USD1,350/mt to the highest of USD1,400/mt FOB at Tianjin port. Exports of roundabout low-priced Chinese ferrosilicon reached about 156 thousand tons in Japan, South Korea and China’s Taiwan province in the former half of 2014, which were 1.4 times as many as the regularly exported volume in the same period.

FeSi75# remained €1,140-1,200/mt in European markets and 98-100 cents/lb in US market. Ex-work price of FeSi75# was Rs75,500/mt (USD1,248/mt) in Guwahati, India and ex-work price of Bhutan FeSi75# rose to Rs 77,500/mt (       USD1,281/mt). Export prices from Bhutan to Germany and Italy remained USD1,390-1,400/mt CIF.  Contract prices of FeSi75# declined to USD1,360-1,380/mt CIF at Japanese ports. FeSi75# was USD1,250-1,300/mt in South Korea. Japan imported 49,248 mt of ferrosilicon in July 2014.

Analysis: One phase of massive bids was over by the end of August and some ferrosilicon producers were likely to reduce supplies to steel mills. What’s more, most producers had few spot materials. FeSi prices were likely to slightly go up in early September in China.

• [Editor:Phillip.Feng]