[Ferro-Alloys.com]Except for TISCO, China's major stainless steel makers, including JISCO, Baosteel and Tsingshan, released their tender prices for high-carbon ferrochrome in the end of March, both of JISCO and Baosteel made a rollover from their prices in the first quarter of 2015 and also would purchase the same amounts, while Tsingshan lowered its tender price by RMB50/50MT from the previous month and decreased its purchasing amount by 20,000 tonnes. The decline of Tsingshan's tender price in April made a same tender price for all of these three purchasers, which concentrated the tender prices in China's different areas.

China's domestic high-carbon ferrochrome prices remained strong in the first quarter of 2015, especially in Inner Mongolia, where the producers raised their ex-works prices by about RMB100/50MT, which resulted an increase of RMB50/50MT of TISCO's tender price in March. Ferrochrome producers posed a strong expectation of an increase of stainless steel makers' new tender prices in March, which has been failed in the end of the month, further more, there was even a cut in Tsingshan's tender price.

 

According to China Customs data, China imported more than 250,000 tonnes of high-carbon ferrochrome in February 2015, which indicated more imported high-carbon ferrochrome had been used by China's stainless steel makers. There is an increase in China's market share for the  imported high-carbon ferrochrome. On the one hand, foreign producers own traditional advantages by the low cost of materials and large furnaces, and on the other hand, China canceled the import tariff for high-carbon ferrochrome and Chinese yuan rose with the US dollars these year, compared with weaker rand, which made China's  stainless steel producers apt to import more high-carbon ferrochrome.

 

Rainy season is near in South China, which increaes the local production rate of high-carbon ferrochrome, while the rebound of high-carbon ferrochrome prices since October-November 2014 ceased, adding the increasing imported volume, a strong support for the increase of high-carbon ferrochrome is still needed. Meanwhile, China's stainless steel price currently remained in a downtrend, which would make it hard for a rise of high-carbon ferrochrome price.

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