SHANGHAI, Apr 8 (SMM) – Spot offers of silico-manganese alloy weakened after the Qingming Festival holiday as major steel mills set their purchasing prices in April tenders lower than March's prices.
Recovery of silico-manganese producers in the south is expected to lift the operating rate in the industry in April. Some producers in the south operated at full capacity, and prioritised orders from steel mills. This means that local traders will unlikely to easily purchase silico-manganese alloy in the near term.
On Monday April 8, #6517 silico-manganese alloy in Inner Mongolia offered at an average 7,700 yuan/mt ex-works on acceptance, including value-added tax of 13%. This stood some 50 yuan/mt lower from a week earlier.
As of Thursday April 4, Hunan Valin Iron & Steel, Guangxi Liuzhou Iron & Steel, and China's biggest steelmaker Hebei Iron and Steel Group (HBIS Group) settled their purchasing prices of silico-manganese alloy at 7,850 yuan/mt for April. This was down 50 yuan/mt from mainstream traded prices in the market last week.
The lower prices were accepted by silico-manganese alloy producers in the south as they tended to sell off after recovered from suspension.
