06/04/2025 18:23:46 ET|Market Commentary
AuthorAnthony Poole<“>.>|EN
Ferroalloys
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* Q3 inquiry seen as noteworthy
* Long-term offtakes remain strong

Prices of US bulk ferroalloys were flat in the week to June 4 as spot activity remained dormant and third-quarter inquiries were thin.
JSW Steel came into the market on June 2 for its third-quarter ferroalloys requirements and was looking for offers by midday Eastern on June 4.
The steelmaker was looking for about 1,700 mt of high-carbon ferromanganese, 1,200 mt of silicomanganese, about 395 mt of medium-carbon ferromanganese, 260 mt of ferrosilicon, 156 mt of high-carbon ferrochrome or charge chrome and around 66 mt of ferrovanadium.
This is going to be the only noteworthy inquiry in ferroalloys we’re going to see in a long time, said a producer source, who described the US bulk ferroalloys market as very quiet.
Commenting on the JSW inquiry, market participants gave offer indications of $1,300-$1,400/lt for high-carbon ferromanganese.
I think we certainly wouldn’t go below $1,350, one trader said, adding that he agreed with the offer indications of $1,350-$1,400.
A second trader also gave an offer indication of $1,350-$1,400/lt. I can’t imagine any [offers] will be under $1,300, but you never know, the trader said. He said $1,350 would be in line with current replacement costs from India.
He said manganese alloy prices should be supported with the closure of the Liberty Bell Bay manganese alloys smelter in Tasmania, Australia, which had been a major supplier to the US.
But several sources have said the closure was more likely to affect supply in the US from 2025, because there was sufficient inventory to meet contractual obligations for the remainder of the year.
A third trader gave an offer indication of $1,400/lt for high-carbon ferromanganese against the JSW inquiry, but said he was expecting some offers to be as low as $1,300/lt.
Despite the lack of spot activity, and there being few Q3 inquiries from consumers, market participants said the offtakes on long-term contracts were strong and noted that capacity utilization in the US steel industry was slowly creeping up and had risen above 78% for the first time in over a year.
The producer source said he had seen strong consumption from the long-products and rebar mills, but noted demand from the flat-rolled steel producers had been mixed.
Some market participants said offtakes on refined ferromanganese contracts had been strong.
The offtakes have been pretty decent, said the first trader. Yes, the long products side had been pretty good. But the flat-rolled isn’t all bad.
Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.