The US spot ferro-silicon market has stabilised in late November after sliding in the earlier part of the month, although the market may be shaky against stagnating demand in the steel industry. The spot market is at $0.74-0.76/lb delivered, down by $0.10/lb from $0.84-0.87/lb last month.

 

We expect no major domestic buying until the New Year. Domestic US production has been relatively disciplined, and imports have plunged as both demand and prices contracted this year. US ferro-silicon imports collapsed by 70% year-on-year in the first eight months of 2009, with the Chinese share of the import market shrinking as US prices fell below Chinese production costs.

 

The possibility of more domestic ferro-silicon output being restarted is slim this year. Some idled furnaces will need to be converted from silicon metal – a stronger market. The US ferro-silicon market is unlikely to see any real recovery until the first or second quarter of next year. (Metal Bulletin Research)