Chinese silicon export prices continued to fall amid thin buying appetite and a stronger dollar last week while the European market remained quiet.
Metal Bulletin's Chinese grade 553 silicon metal export price dropped to $1,740-1,800 per tonne on Friday June 22, from $1,760-1,850 per tonne the week before. In China, continued environmental scrutiny has weakened demand from silicon metal consumers, including secondary aluminium alloys and organic silicon producers, adding downward pressure to domestic silicon metal quotations. "The operational rates for organic silicon has been low these days due to the environmental crackdown, which resulted in weak demand for grade 421 silicon metal," a trader said....