Posted on 25 Sep 2025
China's Tsingshan Group has raised its bid price for high-carbon ferrochrome (HC FeCr) for October delivery by Yuan 200/tonne ($28/t), nominating this at Yuan 8,495/tonne (50% Cr basis), or $1,194/t, including tax, the company announced on September 23.
The rise, doubtless spurred by the bullish FeCr market recently, means that the stainless giant has now hiked its purchase price for the ferroalloy under long-term contracts for a second straight month, Mysteel Global noted.
"The price hike by Tsingshan validated the prevailing optimistic expectations in the ferrochrome market - just!" a Shanghai-based industry insider observed. "The increment is still significantly less than the Yuan 300-500/t price increase widely expected previously," he told Mysteel Global.
Numerous factors are buoying spot prices of FeCr right now, including strong feedstock demand from Chinese stainless steel mills, tight availability of spot cargoes and rising production costs among smelters of the ferroalloy. "All these have sent FeCr prices higher," he explained.
China's stainless mills have continued to ramp up output over the past two months too, Mysteel data show.
The country's already-high crude stainless output should climb again in September, according to the results of Mysteel's most recent survey among the 43 stainless producers it regularly tracks nationwide. The total volume scheduled for this month is estimated at 3.44 million tonnes, higher by 3.8% from actual production in August. Moreover, if realised, this would also be 4.8% higher on year.
Specifically, output for crude ferritic stainless steel - a key consumer of HC FeCr - is forecast to increase to 604,200 tonnes this month, marking a month-on-month rise of 5.9%, the survey results suggest.
In response, a supply gap of 176,600 tonnes opened in the HC FeCr market during this year's first three quarters, a separate Mysteel survey reveals, highlighting a market strained by strong demand.
"Spot supplies have tightened, not to mention the stockpiling of HC FeCr by the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration in March and June," a stainless market source in Wuxi commented, adding that the actual supply gap is likely even larger.
Typically, the Strategic Reserves Administration conducts stockpiling of the ferroalloy in times of industry pessimism, a strategy to shore up prices, he explained.
In addition, "falling imports of the ferroalloy also fuelled supply tightness," he said.
China's HC FeCr imports in August plummeted to 159,100 tonnes, falling 29.9% month-on-month and 43.4% year-on-year, according to China's General Administration of Customs. Shipments from South Africa, a major source, led the decline with a 43.9% monthly drop to 60,900 tonnes, the Customs data show. The country's cumulative import volume for January-August stood at some 1.83 million tonnes, also down 27.7% year-on-year.
What's more, smelters that halted production last year due to losses have lacked motivation to restart – a key factor compounding the supply scarcity, Mysteel Global observed.
The near-term outlook for FeCr prices is still promising, the Wuxi industry source maintained, pointing out that demand should rise further in coming weeks as autumn is usually a peak season for stainless sales. Meanwhile, higher chrome ore prices have lifted production costs for the smelters, and this will also bolster FeCr prices, he added.
Mysteel assessed the CIF price for 40-42% chrome concentrates shipped from South Africa to Tianjin at $282/dmt as of September 23, higher by $10/dmt from a month earlier.
Also, on the same day Mysteel's assessment showed that the price of 55% high-carbon FeCr in Inner Mongolia, the key reference price in the domestic FeCr market, had reached Yuan 8,600/t, 50Cr, ex-works including VAT, marking a monthly surge of Yuan 500/t.
Source:Mysteel Global
