Mysteel Daily: Strong sentiment of high prices in the titanium market, but cautious trading in reality

What are the main reasons behind China's transition from a net exporter of ferroalloys to a net importer of ferroalloys in 2009? Exploring the evolution process and influencing factors of China's ferroalloy trade pattern is conducive to a profound understanding of the relevant policies of the country regarding the ferroalloy industry, including import and export policies, industrial policies, etc. It is beneficial for industry operators and relevant practitioners to keep up with the pace of the times, grasp the development context and direction of the industry from a national strategic perspective, and guide their actual production and operation. This article mainly analyzes the evolution of the scale and pattern of China's ferroalloy trade, explains the main reasons for the transformation of the ferroalloy trade pattern, and briefly introduces the import and export overview of the main futures varieties of silicon iron and silicon manganese, hoping to provide some reference for the industry.

London, March 3 (Args) - Upgraded supply disruptions and serious financing challenges at some major ports in Russia are hindering the production of large quantities of metals in or exported through Russia, and end users are increasingly concerned about whether they will ship.Titanium, ferrotitanium, chromium, ferrochromium, cobalt, and nickel are all particularly vulnerable to transportation challenges. Since last week's Russian invasion of Ukraine, multiple market participants have expressed concerns about the transportation situation. These concerns may further drive up Rotterdam prices after yesterday's rise. Yesterday, the price of Russian and Western grade titanium iron rose to $10.60- $11.95 per kilogram, the price of metal chromium rose to $14000- $15000 per ton, and the price of cobalt rose to $35.85- $36.40 per pound.

In terms of raw materials, the domestic titanium concentrate market was mainly weakly adjusted at the beginning of the week, and overall remained stable. The pace of raw material procurement remained slow and moving forward, and in the short term, titanium concentrates mostly maintained weak consolidation operation. The price of titanium concentrate with TiO2>45% (Hebei) is 2000-2070 yuan/ton, and the price of TiO2>42% (Hebei) is 1550-1600 yuan/ton; The price of titanium concentrate TiO2 ≥ 45% (Yunnan) is 2000-2150 yuan/ton, TiO2 ≥ 46% (Panzhihua) is 2450-2550 yuan/ton, and TiO2 ≥ 47% (Panzhihua) is 2650-2750 yuan/ton.Recently, the titanium slag market has been operating weakly. In October, the bidding price for high titanium slag from northern enterprises was 7790 yuan/ton, a decrease of 210 yuan/ton compared to September. The downstream titanium dioxide market demand is still poor, and downstream enterprises have strong upward pressure on prices. In addition, the price of raw material titanium ore remains high, which puts significant production pressure on titanium slag factories. Although downstream procurement has increased recently, prices have remained low, and it is expected that the titanium slag market will find it difficult to recover in the short term.In terms of titanium iron, domestic titanium iron is affected by the increase in raw materials, with high titanium iron quotations mostly adjusted upwards at 1500-2000 yuan/ton. Although there is no significant adjustment in low titanium iron quotations, cost support has been highlighted, market supply and demand have changed, and manufacturers' sentiment needs to be improved. The mainstream prices of titanium iron FeTi-30 are between 12500 and 13200 yuan/ton, FeTi-70A is between 31500 and 32500 yuan/ton, and FeTi-70B is between 30000 and 31000 yuan/ton.Overall, the upstream prices in the domestic titanium market are still mainly stable, and the overall market still needs improvement. There is a lack of favorable factors in the short term, and we will continue to pay attention to the pricing situation of future transactions.