Posted on 28 Jan 2022
Total inventories of imported chrome ore concentrates at the six major Chinese ports under Mysteel's survey edged down for the second week by another 28,000 tonnes or 1.1% on week to 2.69 million tonnes as of January 21, or a new low since September 2019. The decline was mainly due to the decrease in new arrivals and the active buying among ferrochrome (FeCr) smelters to fulfil their replenishment needs.
Last week, new arrivals of chrome ore concentrates were relatively low, given that exports from overseas miners - especially South Africa - remained slow under the impact of COVID-19 globally, Mysteel Global noted.
A Tianjin-based trader admitted that his chrome ore stocks at the port had been running low, while the lead time of new orders from South Africa remained uncertain.
Apart from slower new arrivals, the recent supply tightness of chrome ore was also being attributed to the congestion at North China's Tianjin port because of the recent COVID-19 Omicron outbreak, as reported.
On the other hand, procurement of the ferroalloy among Chinese stainless mills has remained active, with some of them continuing to purchase for replenishment.
"Although we've halted production for the celebration of Chinese New Year holiday (over January 31-February 6), we're still keeping the office open and trying to secure more chrome ore materials, as the current tradable resources are quite limited," an official from a FeCr smelter in North China's Inner Mongolia told Mysteel Global.
The active procurement among buyers, together with the remaining supply tightness, saw Chinese chrome ore prices stay bullish, with the price of South Africa-origin 40-42% grade chrome concentrates nudging up by Yuan 1/dmtu ($0.2/dmtu) on week to Yuan 32/dmtu at Tianjin port as of January 26, or a new high since August 2021, according to Mysteel's database.
Source:Mysteel Global
