Chinese magnesium suppliers have been making increasingly aggressive offers amid persistent selling pressure as a result of lackluster buying appetite from a magnesium casting sector being hit hard by US tariffs and weakness in the domestic automotive industry.
Fastmarkets MB 's assessed Chinese domestic magnesium min 99% Mg, ex-works price fell to 15,500-15,600 ($2,252-2,266) yuan per tonne on Friday June 28, down 6.2% from 16,550-16,600 yuan per tonne on June 7. The plunge in June followed earlier drops in late March and April after the price hit a year-to-date high of 17,300-17,400 yuan per tonne on March 15. Suppliers broadly attributed the persistent softness in the magnesium price seen in the second quarter to weak demand from the magnesium casting sector, which provides steering wheel and car bodies to automobile makers, after the United States increased import tariffs on $200-billion's worth of Chinese goods...