Japan Ferroalloy Import Price Drops in January

Japanese silicomanganese import unit price decreased by 11.6% to CIF 163,000 yen per tonne in January from December, which represents drops for 4 months in a row, according to Ministry of Finance. The unit price decreased for all ferroalloy items except for medium carbon ferromanganese and the averaged ferroalloy unit price decreased for 2 months in a row. The import volume decreased by 23.0% when Japanese steel industry is in major production cut.

The high carbon ferromanganese import unit price decreased for 5 months in a row through January in month to month basis. The unit price decreased for 2 months in a row for ferrochrome. The price decreased by more than 20% and for 5 months in a row for ferronickel, ferromolybdenum and ferrovanadium.

The ferroalloy import value decreased by 16.5 billion yen in January from December due to lower unit price and volume. The heated alloy price cooled but the averaged unit price was still 24.0% higher in January than a year earlier level despite of the higher yen rate.