| The TEX Report Topics < Ferro Alloys > | |
| HOME >> Topics List >> October, 2008 >> 31 (Fri) |
| Order For Ele-Mn-Met Is Being Placed With Aim To Secure At Bottom Price |
| = Major Consumers Are In Market, The Production In China Is Being Reduced Substantially |
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Owing to the matters which domestic demand for electrolytic manganese metal in China has been depressed and sales of this metal in the markets to be exported from China have been slumped for a change of item to be used, price of Chinese electrolytic manganese metal has fallen to a considerable extent but a large order for this metal has come up to the surface in this week. A tender to purchase 60 tons of standard grade electrolytic manganese metal (with Mn 99.7% min.) was recently held and the results are not known yet but many bidders are supposed to have offered this metal at US$2,400 per metric ton CIF Japan. However, it seems that the price of standard grade electrolytic manganese metal planned by a consumer (blast furnace mill) to purchase was on a level of US$2,200 CIF. The market price of Chinese electrolytic manganese metal has been falling steeply from the middle of September and came down to a level of US$3,750 - 3,800 CIF, having broken the price of US$4,000. After that, the price of this metal in a later part of October fell to a level of 2,300 - 2,400 per metric ton CIF Japan. Therefore, in the bases to produce electrolytic manganese metal in China (Sichuan Province, Hunan Province, Chongqing City and Guangxi Zhuang Aut, Region), the operation rate has dropped to an extremely low level. The current price of this metal is not payable for production cost and the Chinese producers concerned held twice a meeting in this week to discuss about the countermeasures to resolve a crisis of this very lowered price for electrolytic manganese metal. However, the reason, why Japanese consumers were not in the market for a long period but have suddenly moved to purchase electrolytic manganese metal, is not interested in spot purchase but rather felt to take a chance on this extremely lowered price. Namely, both factors, which the current price of electrolytic manganese metal has fallen to a reasonable level and the exchange rate of Japanese Yen against US-Dollar has suddenly strengthened to a large extent (US$1.00 : Yen 92 - 97), are thought to have brought in an interest of purchasing Chinese electrolytic manganese metal. Therefore, it has been viewed at present that price of electrolytic manganese metal is now approaching to the bottom. Nevertheless, by taking into consideration of the reality in China (mills are reducing their production of stainless steel), some of the parties concerned said that the bottom price of this metal is supposed to be a level of US$2,000 per ton. The price of manganese ore produced at local mines of China is becoming a key point. The case, which uses electrolytic manganese metal as raw material for production of medium carbon ferro-manganese by means of utilizing the very lowered price of this metal, is increasing in China and, in view of this reduced cost, the market price of Chinese medium carbon ferro-manganese has steeply fallen to a level of US$2,800 per metric ton CIF Japan. Also, the conventional process to produce refined ferro-manganese from silico-manganese as raw material is becoming active in China and price of medium carbon ferro-manganese had once risen to an extraordinarily high level (US$5,000 per ton in Europe as of August of this year) but turned to fall to the current level. The market price of high carbon ferro-manganese is on a level of US$2,500 - 2,600 per ton at present and, accordingly, the extraordinarily fallen price of refined ferro-manganese is remarkable as production of refined ferro-manganese is necessary to process secondary refining. It is an unusual case to produce medium carbon ferro-manganese by means of using electrolytic manganese metal as raw material and this process is a temporary occurrence but, if this type of the production is progressed, the demand for electrolytic manganese metal will come up as a substitutive raw material for production of stainless steel. From this point of view, some of the parties concerned have an opinion that new demand for electrolytic manganese metal as mentioned above is thought to be effective for a reduction of the stocks and will be able to become a temporary measure to sustain price of electrolytic manganese metal. |
| last modified : Thu 06 Nov, 2008 [10:22] |
