[ferro-alloys.com]

  The coronavirus pandemic vaccine is expected to boost the demand for ferrochrome in 2021, said Merafe, GLENCORE's ferrochrome enterprise in South Africa.

  Merafe said it expects stainless steel production to grow by 12.5% in 2021, and the introduction of global vaccines will boost demand for ferrochrome. Among them, China's domestic supply restriction and demand recovery will support the annual ferrochrome price.

  Merafe's performance is in line with that of South Africa and the global ferrochrome market, which is full of challenges in 2020. Total ferrochrome production in South Africa fell about 25% last year, while global production fell 11.2% year on year to 12.5 million tons.

  "Ferrochrome prices rose significantly in early 2021 due to insufficient domestic supply in China and further rising global demand for ferrochrome," Merafe said that the price of high carbon ferrochrome in Europe rose sharply in the first quarter of 2021. Argus' latest assessment shows that the duty paid delivery price of high carbon ferrochrome in northwest Europe rose to $1.11-1.21/pound on March 4, compared with $0.85-0.94/pound at the beginning of the year. The price of China's high carbon alloy rose sharply, with the ex factory price including tax of $0.77-0.79/pound (50 BT) on January 4 and rising to $1.11-1.13/pound on March 4.

  However, Merafe also acknowledged that high electricity prices in South Africa and the unstable power supply of state-owned utility Eskom "remain the main risks to our business and the wider ferroalloy industry."

  Merafe warned that South Africa's national electricity regulator's approval of TEPCO's 15.6% tariff increase after the high court victory would "increase the cost pressure on its ferrochrome plants and further reduce the cost competitiveness of South Africa's ferrochrome industry."

• [Editor:Catherine Ren]