[Ferro-alloys.com] A steep fall in Chinese ferro-chrome prices, on weak demand from the stainless steel sector and firm ore prices, is pushing traders out of the market or forcing them to change their business models, market participants told Metal Bulletin.

 

“This year the market is very weak. The only way I do business is by finding buyers first, then finding the cargoes to sell to them,” a ferro-chrome trader from Shandong province said. Another major trader in Ningbo echoed the sentiment, saying that majority of their transactions this year were based on finding buyers first. “There is no space for them [traders]. They are quitting and there is no margin at all because the price is low,” another market participant said. In a strong market, traders make bulk ferro-chrome purchases ahead of finding buyers as they are confident, but now the situation is completely different.