The negotiations with steel companies of Japan on price of low carbon ferro-chrome for shipments in the first quarter (January - March) of 2009 have been taken place from last week. Reflecting a steep fall of price for low carbon ferro-chrome in Europe, it will be inevitable to reduce price of low carbon ferro-chrome for import into Japan under the quarterly contracts. Such regular suppliers as Russian producers proposed steel companies of Japan the price for carbon 0.1% max. material on a level of 240 US-Cents per lb. of Cr CIF.
However, in line with the world trend, it is still not known yet whether the negotiations are able to be settled on this price as proposed or not, and a possibility to conclude the price on a lower level than 240 US-Cents is foreseen. For a reference, the prices of low carbon ferro-chrome contracted with Japanese steel mills for shipments in October - December quarter of 2008 are in the range of 430 - 440 US-Cents per lb. of Cr CIF and, therefore, the price to be settled for the first quarter of 2009 is supposed to fall to nearly half of the prices for this quarter. |
