MYSTEEL: China's FeCr prices to slide further as surplus emerges

The shift from supply tightness during this year's third quarter to a fourth-quarter surplus has sent China's spot prices of high-carbon ferrochrome (HC FeCr) into decline. The supply pressure is set to compound with the commissioning of greenfield smelters projects that are likely to cause prices to decline even lower.

The results of Mysteel's most recent survey of the 177 domestic smelters regularly tracked and representing 95% of domestic capacity show that during October, China's HC FeCr production climbed to a new peak of 825,000 tonnes. This has added immediate pressure to the domestic spot market, a Shanghai-based analyst observed, pressure that