Consumption of ferrosilicon for steel production during the Q1 (January - March) of 2012 was 88,785 tons, largely down 16.7% from 106,524 tons consumed in the same quarter of 2011 reflecting the drop in crude steel production during the Q1 of 2012 compared to the year-ago quarter from 26.567 million tons to 27.704 million tons down 4.1%.

The difference between the drop in percentage of ferrosilicon consumption and the same of crude steel production can be partly explained by the "increase" in consumption of silico-manganese despite the drop of steel production. Consumption of silico-manganese in the Q1 of 2012 was up 1.3% from the same quarter in 2011, giving a good contrast with the substantial drop in ferrosilicon consumption.

According to relevant statistics, specific consumption unit of ferrosilicon and silico-manganese in steel production in the Q1 of 2012 (together with the year-ago quarter figure in parentheses) was, <> ferrosilicon: 3.40 - 3.50 kg for 1 tons of steel produced (3.71kg), <> silico-manganese: 2.70 - 2.76 kg (2.66 kg). These figures show that the mills have been trying to switch to a blend of ferrosilicon and silico-manganese from ferrosilicon only.

The fact that the price of silico-manganese softened while the one for ferrosilicon maintained comparatively firm level is another reason of the switching trend.

• [Editor:editor]