High-grade ferronickel price unchanged

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 19 May 09 – Though nickel market kept going down further, high-grade ferronickel market remained unchanged in China. Several producers have resumed production, but complained the low price and they cannot make many profits. Some producers keep receiving inquiries and orders from customers, and they are not worried about the sales very much. Some other plants have no plan to resume production in the short term, as they hold little confidence in the market recovery.
A producer from Inner Mongolia claimed that their plant just resumed production late April and the output remains at 300tpm. According to the source, some stainless steel producers keep coming to them and they are not worried about the sales very much. However, they are active to sell the material for fear that ferronickel market will retreat again. The source confirmed that most deals of ferronickel 10%min were concluded at RMB1,000/mtu (USD146/mtu) ex works, and they made few profits. According to the source, some big-sized stainless steel plants have started their purchasing of ferronickel, and the demand may become strong soon.
"We are watching nickel market and wish that the market would stop going down as soon as possible," said the source, who believes that high-grade ferronickel market still needs time to recover, and they will pay more attention to the market recovery of stainless steel plants.
Another producer in Inner Mongolia claimed that their output remains at 300tpm, and they insisted on selling ferronickel 10%min at RMB1,000/mtu (USD146/mtu) ex works. However, some buyers prefer to press down the price further, but they are reluctant to sell and would rather hold stocks. According to the source, this grade ferronickel plants are limited in China and the demand from stainless steel plants becomes steady now.
"Nickel market kept retreating in the past days, and we are worried that ferronickel market will follow suit again sooner or later," said the source, who disclosed that their production cost is as high as RMB1,000/mtu (USD146/mtu) and the profit margin is very small. They will keep production in order to maintain the relationship.