Ferroalloy, in a broad sense, refers to a product that is added to molten iron as a deoxidizer, element additive, etc. during steel-making to make the steel have certain characteristics or meet certain requirements. A master alloy composed of iron and one or several elements, mainly used in iron and steel smelting. In the iron and steel industry, all master alloys used in steel-making, whether iron-containing or not (such as silicon-calcium alloys), are also called “ferroalloys”. This article will analyze the production and export of China’s ferroalloys from 5 points.
1. Production
My country’s iron production has generally shown a fluctuating upward trend. In 2019, the iron production was 81,000 tons, and the annual output of ferroalloys was more than 30 million tons. In terms of price, the price of ferroalloy in my country has generally shown a fluctuating upward trend. As of February 17, 2021, the price of ferroalloy has increased to 2.325 million yuan / ton. In 2020, the export value of my country’s ferroalloys is 834 million US dollars, and the export volume is 470,000 tons.
During the period from 2012 to 2020, the output of ferroalloys in my country was relatively fluctuating, with an annual output of more than 30 million tons. In 2020, my country’s ferroalloy output was 34.196 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 6.5%.
Chart 1 China’s ferroalloy output from 2012 to 2020 (unit: 10,000 tons, speed up %)
2. Price
The price of ferroalloy in my country has generally shown a fluctuating upward trend. As of February 17, 2021, the price of ferroalloy has increased to 2.325 million yuan / ton.
During the period from 2012 to 2021, the price of ferroalloys in my country generally showed a fluctuating upward trend. In the first half of 2020, the price of ferroalloy in my country was relatively stable, showing a downward trend from June to November. On November 3, 2020, the price of ferroalloy in my country fell to 1.66 million yuan/ton. From November 2020 to February 2021, the price of ferroalloy in my country generally showed a fluctuating growth trend. As of February 17, 2021, the price of ferroalloy in my country increased to 2.325 million yuan/ton.
