The Chinese ferro-silicon price moved up in the past week in line with upstream costs while suppliers look to new consumer tenders expected in the coming days; new quarterly settlements have weighed on the spot market in Europe.
China heads higher on upstream costs Chinese suppliers expect April consumer delivery tenders Europe dragged down on second-quarter deals US market remains quiet Ferro-silicon prices started to increase in China last week, with sources citing high upstream costs behind the move. Dealers were mostly waiting for near-term market direction from steel mills' monthly tender purchase prices for material delivered in April. Fastmarkets MB's Chinese ferro-silicon ex-works price, basis 75% Si rose by 0.8% to 6,100-6,400 yuan ($909-953) per tonne on Friday March 29, from 6,000-6,400 yuan per tonne on March 22. Most coal mines in Shaanxi province have been shut down and have been doing environmental inspections since an accident at a coal mine in Shaanxi province in January, and have only started to resume operations in recent weeks. Some small and medium-sized semi-coal producers have to cut production because of a shortage of upstream coal, which has pushed up...