India: Ferro silicon prices decline after Bhutan's May'26 offer announcement

• Bhutan's benchmark leads to price decline
  
  
• Chinese market closed due to holidays
  
  

Indian ferro silicon (Si:70%) prices witnessed a drop of INR 1,000/t ($10/t) as compared to the assessment on 27 April. Prices fell as Bhutan announced its offers for this month at INR 106,000/t ($1,112/t) exw.

As per BigMints assessment on 4 April, ferro silicon prices in India were INR 106,500/t ($1,117/t) exw-Guwahati. In Bhutan as well, prices were at similar levels, falling by INR 1,500/t ($16/t) w-o-w. Around 3,600 t of deals were concluded last week in both the regions within the price bracket of INR 105,000-107,500/t ($1,101-1,127/t) exw.

Market summary (28 April 4 May)

Prices drop on lower bids: Ferro silicon prices softened this month following Bhutans announcement of offers at INR 106,000/t ($1,112/t) exw, which remained unchanged m-o-m. After this benchmark was set, most sellers in Bhutan and the North east aligned their quotations accordingly and revised offers downward. Although prices had increased in the previous month, those higher levels failed to gain sufficient acceptance from buyers. Demand remained routine, and buyers continued to resist elevated price levels, prompting key suppliers to avoid maintaining aggressive pricing.

Additionally, Indian stainless steel mills operated at reduced capacities due to an ongoing energy crisis, which further weakened buying interest and led to lower bids. The combination of muted demand, buyer resistance, and subdued downstream activity pressured the market. As a result, Bhutans pricing trend effectively led to decline in overall ferro silicon market prices.

Muted Chinese market: The market in China was closed for the larger part of last week due to Labor Day holidays. Prior to holidays, the market was mostly stable, supported by firm input costs like semi-coke and electricity, which kept a strong price base. On the supply side, controlled production, limited availability, and sellers reluctance to cut prices prevented any major decline. However, demand from steel mills stayed weak, with buying only on a need basis, while poor pre-holiday interest and weak futures trends kept trading activity low.

ZCE futures stable: Ferro silicon futures for June 2026 delivery on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) were largely steady, going up a little by RMB 26/t ($4/t) w-o-w to RMB 5,680/t ($832/t) on 30 April, compared with RMB 5,654/t ($828/t) on 23 April.

Outlook

Ferro silicon prices in the days ahead might see further decline owing to existing market conditions.