SHANGHAI, Apr. 18 (SMM) – The silicomanganese alloy market remained muted. Most silicomanganese alloy producers reported they had almost suspended production as SiMn 65/17 prices remained low, with losses between RMB 200-300/mt. Nevertheless, profits of SiMn 60/14 were relatively high. According to a recent SMM survey, electricity price decreases in the high-demand period will give incentive to alloy producers to raise operating rates and capacity, which will further drag down the market.

On the steel market side, there were 9 major domestic steel plants adjusted prices, with most of them lowering prices by RMB 1-100/mt. Only one of them raised prices slightly by RMB 2/mt. On the building steel front, those steel plants were mainly concentrated in east, central south, north, northwest and northeast China, with steel plants in east, central south and north China generally lowering prices by RMB 20-50/mt, RMB 10-30/mt and RMB 1-150/mt respectively. With great supply pressure, sluggish end-user demand and weak market sentiment, building steel prices are expected to move weakly in the foreseeable future.