China likely to lose ferrosilicon market share in Japan
China, which supplies 80% of all the ferrosilicon consumed by Japanese steelmakers, is likely to lose some of its dominance as steelmakers look for alternate supply sources.
Chinese ferrosilicon traders raised their offer prices to USD 2,000 per tonne CIF Japan late last week, an alarming level according to market participants in Japan. On May 7th 2008, a 500 tonnes parcel of ferrosilicon was traded at USD 1,720 to USD 1,730 per tonne CIF Japan.
Just two days later offers went up by USD 300 per tonne, even though there were no supply disruptions or surge in demand, Japanese traders said. They added that Japanese steelmakers have recognized the risk of relying on one country for 80% of their ferrosilicon needs and have been talking about diversifying since last year.
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