The European benchmark ferrochrome price has been settled at 154 cents/lb for the second quarter of 2017, down 9 cents/lb or 6.7% from the current quarter, South African ferrochrome producer Merafe Resources said Wednesday.
The price is for charge chrome generally of 48%-52% chrome content, produced in South Africa, but is used as the basis for long-term contracts of other types of high-carbon ferrochrome not just in Europe but in Asia and the US as well.
The Q2 price represents the first quarterly drop since Q2 last year, when the benchmark was set at 82 cents/lb; it subsequently rose to 98 cents/lb in Q3 2016, 110 cents/lb in Q4 and 165 cents/lb in Q1 this year.
Merafe has a 20.5% stake in the Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture in South Africa -- the world's largest ferrochrome producer -- with the rest held by Glencore.
