【Ferro-alloys.com】 South Korean Mn alloy producers lose interest in export sales

South Korean Mn alloy producers are confidently raising their prices amid low global supply. The producers are selling less to foreign consumers.

Although foreign consumers are sending a lot of inquiries for Mn alloys, South Korean producers can serve only a small part of the inquiries, preferring either the most marginal alloy (LC FeMn) or domestic sales. “We have no HC FeMn stocks left in the EU. First of all, we need to ship the alloy to Asia, so we are not offering it to Europe,” a producer.

Rare sales of MC FeMn (75% Mn; 2% C) were closed at $3,600-3,700/t CFR ($2,650/t FOB the month before), while the alloy (78% Mn; 1.5% C) was sold at $3,800/t CFR. Several MC FeMn (81% Mn) lots were sold to regular big buyers from Europe at $3,690/t DDP ($3,210/t FOB in September).

Costly delivery is curbing export sales, first of all those to Europe. The cost to ship a TEU container from South Korea to Rotterdam is $8,000 now, and the figure will add another $1,000 this month. “A lack of containers, ships and port workers resulting from the quarantine restrictions will deteriorate because shipments tend to increase by year-end,” a supplier stated.

Meanwhile, the situation is still favourable and prices are rising faster in the domestic market. South Korean SiMn (70% Mn; 15% Si) is priced at $1,900-2,000/t DDP ($1,580-1,650/t the month before), and HC FeMn (73% Mn) is quoted at $1,800-1,900/t DDP ($1,460-1,500/t DDP). The surge was enabled by other sellers to South Korea raising their prices due to the global uptrend amid the market imbalance among other reasons. Producers are facing numerous problems: Mn alloy output stays shaky in Malaysia, while Indian suppliers keep increasing their prices, citing higher electricity tariffs. Imports are as hard as exports now, so South Korean alloy is the most attractive for local buyers, market players say. At the same time, producers believe the uptrend will continue in the domestic market.

• [Editor:zhaozihao]