Chrome ore, alloy offer prices and sentiment slide in China

Suppliers in China's domestic spot ferro-chrome market lowered their offer prices during the week to Tuesday October 19, while trading remained light due to very limited supply, Fastmarkets heard.

Fastmarkets' assessment of ferro-chrome, spot, 6-8% C, basis 50% Cr, ddp China fell by 4.8% to 10,700-11,300 yuan ($1,673-1,767) per tonne on Tuesday, from 11,100-12,000 yuan per tonne one week earlier.
The downward move was also seen as a correction to the price gap that emerged between spot and tender prices last week.
"The largest ferro-chrome buyer in the market is not actively buying and this has dampened sentiment," one trader said.
Several participants told Fastmarkets that China's stainless steel output would decline to 2.2 million-2.3 million tonnes in October, compared with the 2.7 million tonnes typically seen in each month before August. This would lead to falling consumption of high-carbon ferro-chrome.

Despite the gloomy demand outlook, some participants argued that continued supply tightness could prevent the ferro-chrome market from a dramatic fall in the near term, while others...

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