Tight supply continues to ratchet up China's ferro-chrome prices

Domestic prices for ferro-chrome in the spot market in China surged in the week ended Tuesday July 20 following production cuts in the province of Inner Mongolia.

Fastmarkets' price assessment for ferro-chrome, spot, 6-8% C, basis 50% Cr, ddp China, jumped by 17.3% to 10,000-10,300 yuan ($1,541-1,587) per tonne on Tuesday, from 8,500-8,800 yuan per tonne one week earlier, and was now at its highest point since March 2017.
Some smelters in Inner Mongolia had to reduce their production due to tighter power usage allowances in the past two weeks. This led mills to return to the spot market after their long-term ferro-chrome supply contracts were affected.
With an increase in the use of wind power, the electricity supply in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia was expected to improve slightly. But shortages will remain and this was expected to continue to hinder ferro-chrome output.

"Under the current power usage policy, we are only able...

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