Ferro-alloy prices forecast to maintain momentum through Q3 2021...

Ferro-alloy prices forecast to maintain momentum through Q3 2021
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets’ team of analysts are ready to view.
This month’s key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:

• Bulk and noble alloys both moved largely in line with our price forecasts globally over the past month, though several markets surprised to the upside, exceeding our forecast gains. Stronger-than-forecast pricing momentum was primarily triggered by supply shortages in numerous markets, with alloys facing power supply issues, transportation disruptions and soaring freight costs. We do not expect a rapid improvement in these underlying conditions, particularly with Covid-19 disruptions becoming increasingly prevalent again. Instead, we forecast continued difficulties for buyers in securing sufficient alloy supplies, with prices for most bulk and noble alloys forecast to make further gains in the remaining weeks of the third quarter.

• Manganese alloy pricing gains reflect consumers scrambling to secure material for fourth-quarter smelting schedules amid record high container and freight costs and limited availability from South Africa. Steelmakers in both Europe and the US are already showing interest for manganese alloy feedstocks into the first quarter of 2022 against strong underlying consumption and concerns about sourcing adequate supplies of material next year.