China will increase sourcing of chrome ore to support its ferro-chrome production growth.
Chinese domestic ferro-chrome output will continue to grow in 2018 as the country's chrome ore imports increase and consumers seek investments and deals aimed at accessing upstream supply, market sources predict. For the first 10 months of 2017, China imported 11.37 million tonnes of chrome ore, up 38% year on year according to Metal Bulletin Research. The country produced at least 500,000 tonnes of ferro-chrome in September and October, according to market data. At that rate of chrome ore imports and ferro-chrome output, China will soon be producing an annual 6 million tonnes a year, according to market forecasts. This compares with about 4.8 million tonnes in recent years, subject to consistency of both imports and production across the year. China already has installed capacity for more than 6 million tonnes and could switch idle capacity on under the right conditions, market sources understand. "I expect China...