Market participants are confident of an increase in the monthly ferro-chrome tender prices offered by major Chinese stainless steel mills for April but warned of a possible downswing thereafter, Fastmarkets heard at its 20th Asian Ferro-alloys Conference in Hong Kong on March 10-12.
"Chinese mills will certainly raise their April tender prices [for ferro-chrome], and the only question is by how much will they lift their prices," a market participant told Fastmarkets on the sidelines of the conference. This growing expectation of an increase in April ferro-chrome tender prices was based on the outlook of steady demand for the ferro-alloy from downstream stainless steel mills against a possible supply shortage amid concerns of electricity constraints in both South Africa and China's autonomous region of Inner Mongolia.South Africa's state-owned power utility, Eskom, warned last week that the country remained at risk of load shedding - controlled power outages intended to reduce strain on the country's system. The city of Ulanqab in Inner Mongolia, one of China's major ferro-alloy production hubs, is expected to experience a severe power shortage in April and May. While the vast majority...