In March 2019, Fastmarkets opted to discontinue its weekly assessment of the ferro-tungsten fob China price owing to limited spot liquidity in the market, which was largely the result of competition from off-grade materials.
But the outbreak of Covid-19 last year has affected the habits of both Chinese exporters and consumers, market participants said.
Chinese ferro-tungsten exporters have since started allocating more cargoes to the spot market, rather than long-term contracts, while foreign consumers, particularly those in Japan and South Korea, have shown greater urgency in securing spot material.
This resurgence in spot activity has prompted the need for greater coverage of the market, thus Fastmarkets plans to relaunch the China ferro-tungsten fob price assessment.
The specifications for the price assessment are as follows:
Assessment: Ferro-tungsten basis 75% W fob China
Quality: Material produced from tungsten ore and concentrate; W: 75.00% min. C: 0.40% max. S: 0.08% max. Mn: 0.50% max. As: 0.10% max. Sn: 0.08% max. P: 0.05% max. Si: 0.70% max. Cu: 0.15% max. Sb: 0.05% max.
Quantity: 5 tonnes
Location: Fob China main port
Unit: USD per kg W
Form: Lump
Payment terms: Cash, other terms normalized
Publication: Weekly. Wednesday 2-3pm London
The consultation period for this proposal will end one month from the date of this pricing notice on Friday April 9. Subject to market feedback, the price will launch on Wednesday April 14.
To provide feedback on this proposal, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter, please contact Ruby Liu by email at pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading ‘FAO: Ruby Liu re: China ferro-tungsten fob China price.’
To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.metalbulletin.com/prices/pricing-methodology.