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Indian silico-manganese prices fell this week, on the back of low demand and a drop in raw material costs, sources told Metal Bulletin.
Silico-manganese prices dropped to $840-90 per tonne fob Indian main ports on Tuesday February 17, from $860-900 last week.
“Prices have come down partly because of the manganese ore price, and also because there is absolutely no demand,” a ferro-alloys producer based in India said.
“The export market is weak and local consumption is also not good,” he added.
Demand has been subdued over the past few months, which has been weighing on silico-manganese prices, with Indian producers in particular struggling to sell to the European market on the back of a weaker euro,
And with manganese ore prices plummeting as miners slash offers, this has further dragged on the market despite prices trading close to the cost of production.
“Alloy prices are following the downwards tendency along with manganese ore prices, which are simply crashing,” a European trader said.
The weaker silico-manganese price comes as Indian consumers and producers await the release of India’s annual budget next week, which some expect could provide a decision on the export incentive.
Special additional duties on imports into the country may also be removed, the producer said, which would make costs for importing raw materials cheaper. “Consumers in India are not buying at the moment as they are waiting for the budget,” he said.
Chloe Smith chloe.smith@metalbulletin.com Twitter: ChloeSmith_MB