[Ferro-alloys.com] In mid and late September, steel mills including HBIS and Shagang Group launched bids for ferrosilicon for October delivery in China. In terms of purchase volumes, flatness or slight decrease was the basic tone. Ferrosilicon producers kept normal operation in main production regions. FeSi supply was somewhat excessive in some region. The main stream ex-work tax-inclusive prices remained steady, with FeSi75# being RMB5,900-6,000/mt(USD962-97869/mt) and FeSi72# being RMB5,600-5,700/mt(USD913-9290/mt). Low Al ferrosilicon prices remained steady.

Export market ran low this week. 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 Chinese ferrosilicon decreased to 42,357 mt in August 2014, with marked decreases to Japan and South Korea.

FeSi75# rose to €1,140-1,195/mt from the previous €1,140-1,170/mt in European markets and 98-100 cents/lb in US market. Demand was steady in India and ferrosilicon prices remained steady in Indian and Bhutan. Ex-work price of FeSi75# remained Rs76,500/mt (USD1,245/mt) in Guwahati, Ex-work price of Bhutan FeSi75# stayed at Rs 78,500/mt (       USD1,277mt). Export prices of FeSi70-75# remained USD1,320/mt FOB at Kolkata. Contract prices of FeSi75# remained USD1,360-1,380/mt CIF at Japanese ports. FeSi75# was USD1,250-1,300/mt in South Korea.

Analysis: Based on purchase prices or inquiry prices of some steel mills, we could see flat prices were basically the main tone for October. Declining steel prices and enough supply of ferrosilicon were likely to keep October purchase prices steady.

• [Editor:Phillip.Feng]