Nippon Denko to Hike FeMn by 30,000 yen/t for January-March

Japanese major ferroalloy maker, Nippon Denko will increase the selling price of high carbon ferromanganese for major domestic users by 30,000 yen per tonne for January-March shipment. The firm already offered the higher price and some users accepted the hike when international market increases with cost pressure by manganese ore. Ferroalloy price is expected to keep firm in and after April when tight ore supply continues for a while. The firm increases the high carbon ferromanganese price to 215,000-220,000 yen per tonne for January-March. The price increased by more than 90,000 yen in a year through consecutive hikes for 4 quarters. The firm also increases the silicomanganese price by 30,000 yen to 215,000-220,000 yen after the 20,000-25,000 yen reduction for October-December. The silicomanganese price in January-March is 100,000 yen higher than a year earlier. Manganese ore quarterly price hit CIF US$ 10 per dry metric tonne unit for January-March, which is 2.7 times of benchmark annual contract price for Japanese major buyers. The higher spot price could impact on annual contract price for fiscal 2008 starting April. The potential higher ore price could lift the manganese ferroalloy price.