[SMM Chromium Daily Review] Ore overseas market remains strong, spot cargo stays temporarily stable; inquiries recover but transactions have yet to follow.

On August 11, 2026, retail quotations for high-carbon ferrochrome remained stable, with Inner Mongolian high-carbon ferrochrome at 7,900-8,000 yuan/mt (50% metal content).

Intraday, the ferrochrome market mainly operated stably, with prices continuing their grinding lower trend and market participant confidence insufficient. The traditional consumption off-season continued to exert influence, with the downstream stainless steel market moving sideways and purchase willingness insufficient. The mainstream steel mills' August tender prices fell by 200 yuan, pushing down the ferrochrome price center. Coupled with recent tenders from other steel mills, where pricing declined to varying degrees, this further suppressed ferrochrome prices. Furthermore, ferrochrome production hit a record high, and imported ferrochrome slowly rebounded, resulting in an obvious supply surplus, with ferrochrome mainly operating under pressure. However, chrome ore prices have rebounded somewhat, and ferrochrome production costs provided bottom support, limiting the room for a sharp price decline. It is expected that in the short term, the ferrochrome market will remain predominantly in the doldrums.

On the raw material side, on August 11, 2026, quotations at Tianjin port for 40-42% South African fines, 40-42% Turkish lump ore, and 48-50% Zimbabwe fines were flat compared to the previous trading day. On the CIF futures front, the latest quotation for 40-42% South African fines was $285/mt.

Intraday, chrome ore futures and spot prices diverged, with futures showing strength and mostly rising continuously, while spot prices remained largely stable with limited fluctuations. On the spot side, high-running ferrochrome production provided rigid demand support for chrome ore, coupled with the continuous drawing down of raw material inventories by ferrochrome producers, leading to an increase in chrome ore inquiries recently. Moreover, much of the arriving chrome ore was high-priced, leading to high procurement costs for suppliers, often resulting in inverted prices, prompting them to tentatively raise quotations slightly. However, chrome ore port inventories fluctuated around 5 million mt, with the destocking inflection point remaining unclear, thus limiting the sustainability of the chrome ore price rebound, and the market was mainly in a stalemate between buyers and sellers. On the futures side, heightened uncertainty from Middle East conflicts and rising shipping costs pushed overseas market quotations firmly higher. Major overseas mines raised the offer for 40-42% South African fines to $285/mt, and quotations for 48-50% Zimbabwe fines and 40-42% Turkish lump ore continued to be raised. Overall, in the short term, the chrome ore market is expected to mainly operate stably.