Copying and distributing are prohibited without permission of the publisher

MINING INDABA 2012: Ferro-chrome market split over price prospects, benchmark

February 09, 2012 - 09:34 GMT Location: Cape Town

KEYWORDS: ferro-chrome , benchmark , South Africa , Mining Indaba

Opinions are divided among ferro-chrome market participants over the prospects for prices in 2012, as some foresee higher prices and larger volumes and others expect the market to be depressed until late 2012 or even into early next year.

Some ferro-chrome producers told Metal Bulletin on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba in Cape Town they expected weak spot prices in the short term, followed by stronger buying activity toward the end of the year, with prices moving up in 2013. Other market sources said they expected a healthy increase in the second quarter benchmark price, citing ever-higher production costs in South Africa and improving global spot demand. Still, estimates were varied, ranging from an increase of less than 10 cents to an increase of more than 20 cents. Victory for producers “I will be happy if we get a 10 cents increase,” one supplier source said, adding that while he does not think a fall in the...

All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. © Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.

Please log in using your online subscriber details.
Your username will be your registered email address with Metal Bulletin.

If you aren't a subscriber yet, feel free to take a seven day free trial, or subscribe using the instructions below.

A standard subscription include one year's worth of news and prices. You can also upgrade to the full archive and benefit from more than 13 years of intelligence. Start your subscription today.

Free trial

Taking a free trial will give you open access to Metal Bulletin online news, prices, archived content and email alert service for the next seven days. Start your free trial today.

Free trial

Already have an account?

Ores & Alloys

May 24, 2012 14:16 RESOURCE NATIONALISM: Lesotho’s ruling party wants 51% share in foreign-owned mines
May 23, 2012 17:01 MB NON-FERROUS PRICE CHANGES
May 23, 2012 15:05 Ferro-molybdehum price slides as suppliers slash offers
May 23, 2012 14:43 Chinese tungsten ore output drops 8% in April
May 23, 2012 04:10 South Australia still optimistic about BHP's Olympic Dam

Comment & analysis

EXPERT VIEW FROM ERNST & YOUNG: Horror week favours the brave

Seven days is a long time in the investment world, but last week must have felt longer than most.
COMMENT: When super-cycle poster child BHP Billiton trims its plans...

BHP Billiton is one of the poster children for the commodities super-cycle: a mining company whose immense upstream assets in copper and iron ore have fed the industrialisation of China since the early years of the 21st century and enabled it to return $52 billion to shareholders between 2001 and 2011.
LORD COPPER: There is nothing to fear after JP Morgan loss ...

So, here we go again. Another bank, another huge trade gone bad. This one doesn’t even appear to have been a case of rogue trading; a whole desk seems to have been operating with the full knowledge of the management and/or risk committee.