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The price of ferromolybdenum (FeMo) with 60% content in Northeast China fell by another Yuan 1,000/tonne ($142.9/t) or 1.1% to reach Yuan 88,000/t including 13% VAT as of July 10, refreshing a 35-month low, according to Mysteel’s assessment. As this is the offseason for steel demand, the stainless market remains slow, a market source said, with the result that most Chinese stainless makers have tapered back procurement after completing replenishment earlier this month.
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Tensions between China and India amid a military standoff at the disputed northern borders could potentially hurt commodities trade and encourage diversion to illegal channels, Biman Mukherji and Ritwik Sinha report.
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China’s national average price of 99.7% aluminum ingot surged by another Yuan 301/tonne ($43/t) on week to Yuan 14,383/t including 13% VAT as of July 6, a recent six-month high, as retail stocks of aluminum ingots continued to shrink, according to Mymetal’s weekly report. Mymetal is Mysteel’s nonferrous metal data collection arm.
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Mysteel’s price of 42% grade South African chrome ore at Tianjin port, North China, reversed down though by just Yuan 0.25/dmtu or 0.8% from June 28 to Yuan 31.25/dmtu ($4.5/dmtu) as of July 3, as the Chinese ferrochrome (FeCr) smelters will not pay higher when the domestic steel mills bid lower for FeCr supplies in July, market source said on Tuesday.
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Prices of both ferromolybdenum (FeMo) and moly concentrates in China slid to their respective 35-month lows over June 29-July 3 mainly on the pressure of the lower-priced imported molybdic oxide, market sources shared on Monday.
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Tsingshan Group, China’s top stainless producer, was the latest to announce a Yuan 100/tonne ($14/t) cut in its high-carbon ferro-chrome (FeCr) procurement price for July to Yuan 6,297/tonne including 13% VAT and delivery, mainly to respond to weaker stainless prices, according to market sources.
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China’s prices of imported chrome ore recovered slightly as of June 28 from June 19, as demand from domestic ferrochrome (FeCr) smelters was high, with traders at ports even firming their prices, Mysteel’s weekly survey showed. On the other hand, domestic FeCr prices continued to decline over the week, reflecting the softening stainless steel market.
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Better demand from China’s domestic aluminum smelters saw the country’s alumina price strengthen by another Yuan 17/tonne ($2.4/t) on week to Yuan 2,353/t including 13% VAT as of June 29, or back to the level in early April, according to the market survey of Mymetal, Mysteel nonferrous metal data collection arm.
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China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for its manufacturing industry reversed up 0.3 basis point on month to 50.9 in June with major elements such as new orders and production posting gains on month, according to the release from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on June 30.
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The price of ferromolybdenum (FeMo) with 60% content in Northeast China dropped to a seven-month low of Yuan 96,000/tonne ($13,565.1/t) including the 13% VAT as of June 28, lower by another Yuan 2,000/t or 2% from June 19, according Mysteel’s assessment. FeMo prices continued to lose ground because of cheaper raw materials prices – namely those of imported molybdic oxide, market sources said on Monday.
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China’s prices of both ferrochrome (FeCr) and imported chrome ore declined over June 15-19, mainly as the domestic stainless steel mills had been reluctant to procure the ferroalloy at high prices when the domestic stainless prices had been softening, according to Mysteel’s weekly survey.
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After remaining unchanged for two weeks, the price of 45% grade moly concentrates in Central China’s Henan province declined by Yuan 50/mtu ($7.1/mtu) on week to Yuan 1,440/mtu including the 13% VAT over June 15-19, returning to the level of April 21, according to Mysteel’s assessment. Prices softened mainly because prices of the competing raw material with Chinese ferroalloys smelters, imported molybdic oxide, are getting cheaper, market sources said on Monday.
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Chinese production of air-conditioners declined by 14.7% on year to 19.4 million units during May, according to the latest data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, with the May result taking total production over January-May to some 78 million units, lower by 23.1% on year, the NBS data show. However, the pace of the decline had slowed marginally from the 24.8% decrease charted over the first four months.
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Indian ferro-chrome prices had risen in the past few weeks after the Chinese ferro-chrome purchase tender prices were released. However, the prices have corrected due to the dull demand at both fronts - domestic and export markets. The Chinese demand for ferro-chrome has slowed down, after the spurts in demand witnessed in the earlier weeks of May. Most producers sold material through traders or merchant exporters and were not offering much quantity in the domestic market. However, there is still a lot of quantity from the major producers that are dependent on the domestic market, but the stainless-steel mills are yet to start operations. The overflow of supply has dragged down the prices of ferro-chrome in the domestic market.
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The Department of Industry and Information Technology (DIIT) in North China’s Shanxi has reiterated the plan to accelerate the construction of special rail links connecting local enterprises to the country’s rail systems. By 2020, all the province’s large-sized industrial and mining enterprises, whose annual delivery volume of goods is above 1.5 million tonnes, will start to build special short-distance rail links from their factories and mines to national trunk lines, according to a recent plan from the department.
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Chinese prices of ferrochrome (FeCr) were generally steady over the week of June 8-12, as fewer deals were concluded during the period given that most domestic stainless mills had already bought FeCr for June production, according to Mysteel’s weekly survey. On the other hand, the smelters had reinforced their prices due to the increased cost of chrome ore.
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Primary aluminum stocks in the warehouses of the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) and 16 Chinese cities declined further over June 8-15, though at a slower pace of 44,000 tonnes or 5.6% on week from the 8.6% on-week contraction in the prior week, mainly due to more imports and fewer orders from overseas customers, according Mymetal’s survey.
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The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the country’s governing body of all futures exchanges, has granted its approval, allowing three commodity exchanges to launch options contracts for six industrial products over June-August for trading, according to its official post on June 12.
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The price of ferromolybdenum (FeMo) with 60% content in Northeast China rose to Yuan 100,000/tonne ($14,109/t) including 13% VAT as of June 12, up by a slight Yuan 1,000/t or 1% on week, Mysteel’s assessment showed. Mainly driving the uptick were the smelters firming their prices to offset higher input costs, and domestic steel mills with relatively high procurement demand last week, market sources said on Monday.
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The declines in China’s total fixed asset investment (FAI) and the funding in the property market slowed further by May, with the former down 6.3% on year over January-May as against the 10.3% on-year fall in the first four months, and the latter dipping 0.3% as against the 3.3% fall by April, according to the latest data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on June 15.
