FeSi market seasonally quiet in Europe
2024-01-03
Trading activity in the European ferrosilicon (FeSi) market is minimised amid the holiday lull. Sellers note a complete absence of enquiries from buyers. “Phones and mail are silent – nobody is asking for material,” one trader commented on the situation.Metis has learnt that a tender for 450 tonnes of the alloy by a steel mill, initiated back in late December, was closed on Tuesday. While offers exceeded €1,450/tonne DDP, the buyer still managed to close the deal at around €1,380/tonne DDP. Meanwhile, in Italy, FeSi (75% Si) of Kazakh origin is being offered for prompt delivery at €1,500/tonne ex-warehouse.Overall, the workable level of ferrosilicon prices in the region will be clear next week when most participants return from their holidays. For now, Metis estimates the indicative price level for FeSi (75% Si, 1.5% Al) to be in the previous range of €1,360-1,450/tonne
DDP.Outokumpu to cut FeCr production
2024-01-02
Outokumpu, one of the leading global stainless steel producer and the largest ferrochrome (FeCr) manufacturer in Europe, has decided to temporarily restrict its FeCr production due to the weak market conditions, Metis has learnt from the company’s statement.Specifically, Outokumpu plans to close one of the three ferrochrome furnaces and one of the two sintering plants in Tornio, Finland until autumn 2024. Consequently, FeCr production will continue at about 80% of the plant’s nominal capacity during the temporary closure.“The stainless steel market has slowed down significantly, which has had a negative impact on our ferrochrome deliveries, and our ferrochrome inventories have increased. This decision [temporary closure of the furnace] would be a difficult but necessary measure in this market situation,” the representative of the company noted.As Metis already reported earlier, poor global and European stainless and chromium market performance over the last months has resulted in a 6% decrease in the European ferrochrome benchmark price for Q1 2024.Outokumpu’s Tornio Ferrochrome Works operates three furnaces with a total annual capacity of 530,000 tonnes of ferrochrome “charge”.
Global Ferronickel inks nickel ore deal with Baosteel
2024-01-05
Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc., a Philippines-based nickel company, has secured a significant nickel ore supply agreement with Chinese steelmaker, Baosteel Resources International.Under the agreement, Baosteel would purchase 1.5 million wet metric tonnes of nickel ore throughout this year from Global Ferronickel’s subsidiaries, in particular, Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC) and Ipilan Nickel Corp. The price for nickel ore will be determined on a monthly basis subject to the prevailing market price at the time of sale.Approximately two-thirds of the nickel ore is expected to be low-grade, containing 0.90% nickel and 48% iron and between 1.30-1.40% nickel with 15-25% iron. The rest will be medium grade with at least 1.40% nickel and 12-23% iron. The nickel ore will be sourced from Global Ferronickel’s operating mines in Surigao del Norte and Palawan provinces, Philippines.Last year, Global Ferronickel shipped 4.76 million wet metric tonnes of nickel ore, including 379,000 wet metric tonnes to Baosteel.