India: Ferro silicon prices remain steady w-o-w in recent trades

• Bhutan sees active trade amid Meghalaya plant closures
  
  
• China's ZCE futures prices witness $16/t decrease w-o-w
  
  

Indian ferro silicon (70%) prices were largely stable last week, dipping slightly by INR 400/t ($5/t) as compared to the previous assessment on 3 March. Prices were stable as market trades were carried out mainly at the newly opened offers for this month.

Ferro silicon prices in India were at INR 99,600/t ($1,140/t) exw-Guwahati, as per BigMint's assessment on 10 March. Bhutan's prices were also at same levels. Around 1,300 t of trades were concluded last week in Bhutan within the price range of INR 99,000-100,000/t ($1,134-1,145/t) exw.

Market overview (4-10 March 2025)

Lesser impact of Meghalaya plants' closure: Over the last week, market transactions mostly happened in Bhutan as plants were still suspended in Meghalaya due to pollution control norms violations. Since more than a month has passed, there has not been any significant improvement in demand, mainly due to the following reasons:

• Subdued demand from steel mills: Reports indicated that major steel mills were fully booked and secondary plants were operating below capacity due to weak demand for finished products and cheaper imports. The recent imposition of import duties by the US has also caused material to be diverted to Indian and Asian markets.
  
  
• Globally competitive export offers: Indian ferro silicon export offers (Si:70%) were at around $1,200/t FOB Kolkata. As per reliable sources, Russian offers were at $1,100/t FOB and from China, $1,105/t FOB for 75 grade. As a result, buyers preferred imported material leading to increase in supplies in the domestic Indian market.
  
  

Trends in Chinese market: Ferro silicon (Si:75%) prices in China stood at RMB 6,310/t ($869/t) exw-Inner Mongolia, down marginally by RMB 10/t ($1/t) w-o-w. The ferro silicon market showed some signs of improvement in both downstream demand and price inquiries. In the short term, the ferro silicon market is expected to remain stable with slight price adjustments, while longer-term demand may see gradual improvement.

However, prices on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) for May 2025 deliveries witnessed a drop of RMB 116/t ($16/t) w-o-w to RMB 6,022/t ($829/t) on 10 March.

Outlook

If the ongoing need-based buying continues in the market, then prices might see a slight correction in the days ahead.