A widening price gap between UG2 chrome ore and Turkish chrome ore in China has emerged since mid-March, when persistently high port stocks and falling domestic ferro-chrome prices weighed on the UG2 market, while the Turkish market has been supported by limited supply, rising costs and good demand, participants said.
Fastmarkets' chrome ore South Africa UG2 concentrates index basis 42%, cif China was calculated at $150 per tonne on Tuesday April 13, after declining by $30 per tonne (20%) over the past five weeks from $180 per tonne on March 9.The availability of Turkish chrome ore has fallen with the country's ore production shrinking in recent years, market sources told Fastmarkets....