Ferro-silicon prices in Asia continue to improve this month, though remain well below prices in other global markets. Chinese ferro-silicon is on offer for 600-610 dollars/tonne cif Japan, up from 570-580 dollars/tonne last month, with reports of prices now as high as 630 dollars/tonne cif. Although Chinese production has been restricted by insufficient power supply, Chinese ferro-silicon exports rose in January to 60,000 tonnes from 40,000 tonnes a year earlier, remaining on a par with buoyant December 2002 export levels. Regional ferro-silicon consumption was mixed in 2002, with sharp gains noted in South Korean and Taiwanese demand, while Japanese consumption declined last year. According to data from the Korean Iron and Steel Association, South Korean mills consumed 121,282 tonnes of ferro-silicon last year, a 13 percent year-on-year gain. In Taiwan, imports of ferro-silicon jumped 14 percent last year to 66,720 tonnes from 58,488 tonnes from 455,944 tonnes in 2001. With Japanese ferro-silicon imports falling while crude steel production in the country expanded nearly 5 percent last year, MBR believes that domestic mills have run down surplus inventories, and hence, are clearly being affected by the short supply of Chinese ferro-silicon characterizing the market at present.
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