The European spot ferro-silicon market, which had been recovering in August and September after falling around a quarter in price since February, looks set to extend its recent steady trend in the near term supported by relatively low availability, trade sources told Fastmarkets.
Demand from steelmakers has recovered since the seasonal summer slowdown, with consumers showing buying interest initially for prompt shipments and then most recently for fourth-quarter delivery settlements. Those quarterly settlements were agreed at around ?,?970-980 per tonne delivered.Now, market participants expect steel mills to be generally inactive for prompt demand until the new year due to being satisfied with their longer-term intake until then. Steel production utilization is around 70-90% of nameplate capacity in general across Europe. Some European steelmakers have reduced their smelting schedules due to unusually weaker end-user markets in automotive and construction, which are only starting to pick up recently after a slump in the six months from March when measures to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic hit economies and...