China Silicon Metal Market Weekly Forecast (Mar.18-22)

SHANGHAI, Mar. 18 (SMM) –

Supply:

Total inventories were around 30,000 at Huangpu port, including 10,000 mt at Hongkai warehouse, 7,000 mt at Yuehua warehouse, 10,000 mt at Wanxiong warehouse and 3,000 mt at Matou warehouse. Total inventories in two warehouses in Yunnan province were around 30,000 mt.

Demand:

Overseas purchasers still tried to beat down prices, but transactions increased as some silicon metal producers began to sell off goods. Therefore, export orders and trading volumes both increased last week. In domestic market, some aluminum alloy producers will resume production, but most of them still adopted a wait-and-see attitude on raw materials purchase. Demand from organic silicon and polysilicon producers were limited but stable. 

Forecast:

The expected rainy reason fails to come in Fujian province, raising market concern whether electricity prices will be lowered. Given the sluggishness in silicon metal market, some producer even halted production. Wait-and-see sentiment still prevailed in the market, and transactions during the last two weeks of March will not be optimistic. SMM expects that silicon metal prices will fall by RMB 50-100/mt in the following week.