For the Quarter Ending March 2022
North America
In North America, Silicon prices were soaring in response to Russia-Ukraine conflict. High rates of electricity and upstream materials like silica, petroleum coke, soft coal, charcoal resulted in price fluctuations. However, in first quarter of 2022, the leading import sources for US Silicon metal were Germany, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The Chinese domestic demand for US Silicon weakened as Chinese market players adopted wait and see approach due to inflated prices. Despite soaring market prices of Silicon amid tight spot availability, producers and traders decided against and made their offers and are keeping their stock steady. The price for Silicon in North America during the first quarter of 2022 were settled at USD 957-1058 per tonne.
Asia Pacific
During the first quarter of 2022, the Asian market sentiments for Silicon in March showcased upward growth despite a declining trend followed till February 2022 owing to muted demand from consumers. Amidst this, the extended hostilities between Eastern European nations have drastically impacted the trade dynamics and provoked fear of a steep surge in prices among domestic market players, forcing them to build up inventories. In India, Silicon prices soared due to high domestic demand and an upswing in prices of raw materials, primarily coal and coke. However, Indian suppliers largely benefited from the crisis and raised their offers subsequently for better netbacks. India's imports of Russian Silicon increased by 250% m-o-m in January. Major buyers have plenty of inventories and are unwilling to sell at low prices. Moreover, domestic buyers are reluctant to book materials at higher prices, waiting for the price reduction. The Silicon Metal price for Ex-Mumbai (India) settled at USD 4209 per tonne, whereas for Ex-Shanghai (China) was assessed at USD 3208 per tonne.
Europe
The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine led to the whole value chain and supply chain disruption. Prices of the materials witnessed a sharp rise due to this conflict. In Europe, the prices of Silicon in January rose moderately amid a shortage of material and forwarding delivery and lower manufacturing at plants because of inflated raw materials costs. Moreover, Russia is the world’s second-largest manufacturer of Silicon after China. In the first quarter of 2022, Russia’s Silicon export demand remained bullish. However, the suspended supplies from Russia severely impacted the global market and the European nations significantly. The sanctions imposed on Russia caused domestic European buyers to build up their stocks from other countries. Additionally, Russia’s export declined primarily due to the drop in imports from Japan and Turkey. But India’s imports of Russian Silicon surged more than 200% m-o-m because of the higher domestic price of Silicon in January 2022.
