Russia lockdown prompts ferro-titanium short-covering

After months of virtual inactivity, supply worries from Russia, a major exporter of ferro-titanium to Europe, have sparked upward movement in European spot prices that may trend higher in the near term, trade sources told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets' ferro-titanium 70% Ti, max 4.5% Al, ddp Europe price jumped by more than 10% week on week on Wednesday April 1 to $4.50-5.00 per kg from $4.10-4.50 per kg.
The top end of the range had stood at $4.50 per kg since the start of November 2019, with only the bottom end moving 10-20 cents per kg in that time. The price has now recovered to a level last seen on September 18, 2019, when the price range was $4.60-5.00 per kg.
The ferro-titanium industry relies much on imports from Russia, which exports around 1,500-2,000 tonnes per year of the alloy to Europe, which amounts to about 40% of European demand, according to industry sources.

Now a lockdown being rolled out across Russia in response to the Covid-19 virus pandemic is casting doubts about near-term supplies from the...

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