A shortage of chrome ore in India has caused domestic alloy prices to ratchet upward but has reduced export volumes, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday October 13.
But an expected resumption of ore production should induce Indian ferro-chrome producers to return to their traditional export markets, they added.
India traditionally produces around 1.3-1.4 million tonnes per year of high-carbon ferro-chrome. About 700,000-800,000 tpy is consumed domestically while the remainder is exported to East Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America, they said.
Exports to China
Chinese imports of India-origin ferro-chrome totaled 49,434 tonnes in July 2020, up by 90% from 26,026 tonnes in the previous month and an increase of 44% from 34,372 tonnes in July 2019, according to Chinese customs data.
And August saw a similar volume of cargoes, 45,074 tonnes, arriving in China from India, the same source showed.
The increase in shipments to China came primarily because of the difficulty Indian suppliers faced in exporting their material to other countries, with demand being muted by the...