Tight supply drives European low-carbon ferro-chrome prices to new high

Prices for low-carbon ferro-chrome continued to rise strongly in the week to Wednesday November 10, with the market still undersupplied and prices reaching a new record high since collapsing in November 2008.

Fastmarkets' price assessment for ferro-chrome 0.10% C, average 65-70% Cr, delivered Europe, was $3.80-4.09 per lb Cr on November 9, up by 34-37 cents from $3.43-3.75 per lb Cr two weeks earlier.
"Most end-users are back on the market to cover their needs for the rest of the year, and traders are restocking while they are faced with higher replacement costs," a producer said. "The very high electricity prices are weighing on our production costs, and for some of our competitors."
Higher offers on the forward market indicated that producers expected prices to continue to rise, and some producers have sold out of spot material.

"The lack of available material means that consumers are prepared to pay more in order to secure supply," a second producer...

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