[Ferro-alloys.com] At the moment at the port of Hai-phong, the spot goods of Chinese ferro-silicon for roundabout export have got scarce at the port of Hai-phong, Vietnam. According to the trading firms in Vietnam, although the cargo as May shipment has been already sold out, the Japanese trading firms have serious concerns over whether the quantity and quality of the remaining contract can be delivered as per the contract terms.

Last year, albeit the roundabout ferro-silicon used to be shipped from Vietnam at a monthly average rate of about 26,000 tons, as the security on the border between Vietnam and China has become stringent since March, the transportation from China across the border has been delayed and it becomes difficult to secure the contracted quantity at the shipping port.

At the end of March, there was a case that a few thousand tons of ferro-silicon discharged in South Korea turned out to be poor-quality goods which were contaminated with muds, stones and slags. Because of that, the spot goods in the South Korean domestic market have become tight, and there has been an inquiry to Japanese trading firms for the stock of roundabout products. Market watchers analyze the above arises from the quantity being unable to be prepared by the shipping timing and poor-quality products and crushed wastes being contaminated.

In fact, the security on the border between Vietnam and China has become stringent because of the stabbing incident which occurred on March 1 in Yunnan and the National People's Congress which took place from April 5, and the distribution across the border has decreased drastically.

The scarcity of products at the port of Hai-phong has been yet to be improved in April, the distribution quantity drop to a level of 10% of the peak time, and the offer price by Vietnamese trading firms rose by US$100 -US$150 from the end of March.

Furthermore, on April 18, 2 border guards were killed by illegal immigrants, and now the distribution between Dongxing, China and Mong Cai, Vietnam has been blocked. The blockage of this route as a main route for roundabout products has been affected much, and the possibility becomes more the scarcity of products at the shipping port in Vietnam will be protracted.

For a reference, although a major blast furnace mill in South Korea floated a tender for a few thousand tons of ferro-silicon in the week before last, the rumor has been voiced in the market that the acceptance of the bid was made predominantly for regularly exported products.

• [Editor:Phillip.Feng]