China: Chrome Ore Prices remain stable W-o-W

The price of chrome ore from both overseas and the Chinese market remained stable. Affected by the Indonesian government's ban on the export of nickel ore, the LME nickel has surged, which has pushed up the price of stainless steel.

At present, most chrome participants hold a positive attitude towards the short-term market outlook, and the price remains firm prior to clear guidance of ferrochrome price to be confirmed by mill tenders. Whether the chrome price will continue to rise in the later period, and how much upside holds in the future are yet to be determined by the price trend of ferrochrome.

At present, most chrome ore merchants are upbeat towards the later market especially in terms of chrome ore prices. In terms of overseas offers, the mainstream suppliers in South Africa are either keeping their previous quotations or choosing not to offer at all, eying on the new round of tender price of ferrochrome. While other mainstream suppliers find it difficult in high-price transactions, they still spare no effort to push up the price.

The port increase is mainly due to the following reasons:
1. By the end of August, arrivals at Qinzhou Port began to increase, but the consumption by the alloy factories in the surrounding area did not increase significantly;
2. The recent logistics capacity of Tianjin Port is put to strain as Inner Mongolian factories are replenishing stock before national holiday amid worries that it may affect transport during that time. However, the vehicles are inadequate to meet the requirement from not only ferrochrome factories but also manganese alloy producers. Consequently, road freight from Tianjin to Inner Mongolia also increased

On ferrochrome side, recently the imports have slightly declined and the domestic ferrochrome supply has also reduced to some extent, ushering in the normalized supply-demand situation. This coupled with the cost increase in chrome ore price and transport, have held back seller’s wiliness to sell goods anytime soon with some retail prices inched up. Regardless of whether the HC ferrochrome price will rise significantly in September or whether the retail price can continue, the price of chrome ore will be supported in the short term, and most chrome ore merchants are still optimistic about the short-term market outlook.