Ferro-silicon prices in the Chinese domestic market have begun to fall again after a brief period of stability when weak demand in the magnesium sector dragged down the bulk alloy market.
For its part, the European ferro-silicon market also dropped in the week to Monday April 29, with producers failing to support prices while consumers continued to settle delivery contracts at ever-lower values. Slower Chinese demand outweighs supply worries Europe price drops 5%, more falls expected US prices succumb to global downward pressure.Chinese market drops in line with demandIn the Chinese ferro-silicon domestic market, prices have dropped in line with demand from the downstream magnesium sectors.Fastmarkets' assessment of the Chinese ferro-silicon ex-works price, basis 75% Si, dropped by 1.6% to 6,000-6,300 yuan ($890-935) per tonne on April 26, from 6,100-6,400 yuan per tonne on April 19.Spot-market demand for ferro-silicon has been weak despite an expected supply tightness in the domestic market that had encouraged buying interest, while some suppliers reduced their offers to generate cashflow.Fastmarkets assessed the Chinese domestic ex-works price for magnesium at 16,600-16,700 yuan per tonne on April 26,...