[Ferro-Alloys.com]

[Ferrosilicon Market] In January 2023, the ferrosilicon Futures market once again went out of the "down - up - down" mode: at the beginning of January, it mainly went down; Then it rose rapidly and rose strongly; And after Spring Festival holiday, it fell off again. The opening price of the 2303 main contract was 8416, the highest price was 8806, the lowest price was 8136, the closing price was 8326, the settlement price was 8422, the trading volume was 2611236, and the position was 103119, down 1.47%.

The stock at the spot end was low, and the quotation remained firm and stable in general before the Spring Festival. After the Spring Festival, due to the gradual recovery of supply, the downstream demand was slow to follow up, the transaction atmosphere was cold, most of the new round of steel tender was not opened, the Futures market continued to plunge sharply, and the market wait-and-see sentiment was strong, the quotation was reduced by about 100-200 CNY/T. However, considering the factors such as the gradual resumption of construction and other terminals and the expected good demand for replenishment after the festival, the ferrosilicon market was expected to rebound. Pay attention to the trend of the Futures market and the performance of steel tender in February.

[Ferrosilicon Exports] According to data of China Customs, in December 2022, China exported 35034.82 tons of ferrosilicon (containing by weight more than 55% of silicon), and 2765.3 tons of ferrosilicon (containing by weight ≤ 55% of silicon). In 2022, China exported 633197.356 tons of ferrosilicon (containing by weight more than 55% of silicon), an increase of 108141.001 tons or 20.60% year on year. In  2022, China exported 27909.291 tons of ferrosilicon (containing by weight ≤ 55% of silicon), a year-on-year increase of 6253.386 tons, or 28.88%.

[Downstream Steel] Before and after the Spring Festival in January, the maintenance and production reduction of steel plants increased, the actual demand for steel weakened, and the market has not yet fully recovered after the holiday. The market transaction was light, the mood was poor, and the inventory accumulated seasonally. The optimistic expectation of the market before the holiday needed to be verified. It was expected that after the Lantern Festival, most projects would resume work, and the demand would gradually recover. The procurement and stock would increase in February, but it was expected that the downstream demand would recover in the first quarter or not as expected. It was reported that most steel mills were at the edge of loss at present, with low willingness to reduce prices, and the probability of large fluctuations in short-term steel prices was small.

[Downstream Magnesium] With the improvement of the market transaction, the factory's shipment condition was good, and the manufacturer's willingness to firm price was obvious. The metal magnesium market started steadily in January. The production end gradually recovered after the Spring Festival holiday. Although the current downstream demand was poor, the short-term magnesium metal market was still expected ti be dominated by stable operation in consideration of the expectation of resumption replenishment after the holiday. On Friday, the mainstream ex-factory cash quotation including tax of 99.9% magnesium ingots was about 22000-22100 CNY/T.

• [Editor:kangmingfei]