India: Silico manganese prices remain stable amid limited spot transactions

• Buyers focus on fulfilling immediate requirements
  
  
• Silico prices drop by INR 100/t ($1/t) w-o-w in Durgapur
  
  

India's medium-carbon silico manganese prices maintained stability, witnessing a slight decline of INR 100/t ($1/t) w-o-w to INR 88,900/t ($942/t) ex-works Durgapur on 2 July. Offers this week were in between INR 88,600-89,300/t ($938-$946/t). A deal of 900 t was concluded at INR 89,000/t ($943/t).

Prices remained largely unchanged w-o-w as cautious buying, balanced availability and limited spot transactions kept the market steady despite expectations of marginal price corrections.

Factors affecting prices

Need-based buying amid expectations of softer prices: Most consumers continued procuring only as per immediate requirements, anticipating slight price corrections in the coming weeks due to subdued downstream demand. This wait-and-watch approach limited fresh trading activity, preventing any meaningful upward movement while supporting overall price stability.

A Raipur-based producer told BigMint that mills resisted further discounts as demand remained too weak to justify price cuts.

Balanced supply and seller resistance cap price fluctuations: Availability remained adequate, with producers maintaining stable offers to protect margins despite muted enquiries. At the same time, buyers largely resisted higher quotations, resulting in a pricing stalemate where neither side was willing to make aggressive moves.

Outlook

Medium-carbon silico manganese prices are expected to remain range-bound in the near term, with cautious buying, adequate supply and subdued alloy demand likely to limit price movement unless consumption improves noticeably.