Reuters citing traders said prices of ferrotungsten in Europe crept up for the second week running as lack of new supplies from China reinforced a dearth of material in Rotterdam.
Ferro Tungsten TUN-FERRO-LON was quoted higher at around USD 30 a kilogram from USD 29 a kilogram last week and USD 25 a kilogram the week before as consumer enquiries for the metal used to make steel for industrial drills were met with empty hands.
A London-based trader said "Chinese producers are closed and they will stay closed until after the holiday next week. Most of the material in Rotterdam has been soaked up, consumers are tentatively asking for prices. Chinese cutbacks and plant closures, expected to continue until after the Lunar New Year holiday next week also helped support prices of magnesium in Europe.”
One said "This level of activity hasn't hit government figures by a long chalk. There are new cars piling up everywhere, nobody knows what to do with them. Overall, traders said there was very little business being done, that they did not expect to see a real recovery until the second half of the year and that the global economic downturn would dampen activity for some months yet.”
A UK-based trader said "People are living hand to mouth, they are only buying when they have to. But he added that he thought China's steel industry was already starting to ramp up production in anticipation of infrastructure spending. It's easier to get things moving in China, they have a holiday so things are slow, but their inventory has disappeared and they are worried about all the cutbacks around the world.”
They need more than they've got. Steel ingredients also include ferromolybdenum MLY-FERRO-LON, ferromanganese MNG-FERRO-LON, ferrovanadium VAN-FERRO-LON and ferrochrome FECRO-HC-LON.
A Europe-based trader said Ferro chrome though was struggling, slipping five US cents to 70 cents a pound as producers and consumers negotiated benchmark contract settlement prices. The thing is people don't want to settle at these lower prices because they are sitting on stock used as collateral with banks."
"If the benchmark falls, banks will be knocking at doors asking for more collateral. That's why the process could take longer this year. Early indications for charge chrome were for a number between 85 and 95 US cents a pound. High grade cobalt COB-CATH-LON used to make aerospace engines was bumping along the bottom at around USD 17 a pound.”
(Sourced from Reuters)
