Spot export offers for Chinese magnesium ingot on a FOB basis generally remained steady, supported by stable domestic prices in steady trading volumes, industry sources said Thursday.
Platts assessed its weekly magnesium ingot (minimum 99.8%) price at $2,300-2,350/mt FOB China Thursday, unchanged on the week as bids, offers and done deal heard were within the range.
The Chinese magnesium diecast alloy price assessment was also kept at $2,580-2,650/mt FOB China Thursday.
"We are seeing steady trades in the domestic market, while exports remain extremely thin," said a north China-based analyst.
A Shaanxi-based producer said: "Export inquiries remain very rare, but we have managed to conclude a deal at $2,300/mt FOB China basis to Europe. As for domestic offers, we are keeping it steady at Yuan 13,300-13,400/mt ($2,149-2,165/mt) and managed to sell at this level." A Shanxi-based producer agreed that domestic offers were steady at Yuan 13,700-13,800/mt in Shanxi after the recent fall due to some sellers dropping their prices to get cash to meet their year-end financial commitments.
Shanxi offers are higher than those in Shaanxi as Shanxi has higher production costs.
"The export trade is still very quiet. I have no inquiries," the Shanxi-based producer added, who was indicating exports above $2,300/mt FOB.
A Japanese trader, however, cautioned that Chinese export offers remained under pressure due to a weaker yuan against the dollar.
This Japanese trader added that Japanese end-users were also cautious as the yen had stayed weak, making imports more expensive.
Meanwhile, sources expect Chinese magnesium ingot export prices to remain steady in the near term.
"The year is coming to an end. I don't expect a significant change in buying interest and the export price will stay steady. Maybe, there will be a pickup in buying interest in January as China will be closed for the Lunar New Year in February. After that, we will have to wait till March for trade to pick up," said the Shanxi-based producer.
