India: Silico Manganese Prices Falls to its Lowest in 2 Years

Indian Silico Manganese prices fell in both the domestic and export market for the eighth straight week. In the domestic market, buyers are negotiating for lower prices but producers are trying to hold on after having had to continuously lower their prices to significantly low levels.

Prices are the lowest in past two years and the producers have suffered huge losses, but the market outlook seems slightly positive now, as the production levels have reduced and the oversupply situation will come into check soon. Meanwhile, in the export market, a major producer from India informed SteelMint that Malaysian and Ukrainian producers are offering Silico Manganese at much lower prices creating a tough situation for the Indian Producers in the export market.

In Durgapur, Silico Manganese 60-14 is being offered in the range of INR 60,500-61,000/MT Ex-Durgapur. In Raipur, the prices are at INR 60,000/MT Ex- Raipur. In the Export market, the demand is poor amid low buying interest as the buyers have a lot of options in the export market; producers are offering 60-14 grade at USD 840/MT and 65-16 is being offered at USD 930-940/MT. Meanwhile, a Durgapur based producer concluded a deal of 200 MT at INR 61,000/MT and 50 MT deal was concluded by a producer in Raipur for 60-14 grade at INR 60,200/MT on Saturday.

On the future Outlook, prices of Silico Manganese may become stable, but a rise in prices can only be predicted after improvement in finished steel demand. The sentiment for the export market remains pessimistic with the fall in the prices; however, producers are still more inclined towards the exports market.