Japan's Metal Silicon Market Is Weak

The Japanese silicon and metal market is weak due to the Japanese New Year holiday. Mainstream prices for the Japanese silicon 5-5-3 metal are currently at $1,500-1,530 a ton, unchanged from last week. Given the dearth of deals, industry insiders expect prices for the metal silicon in Japan to remain stable.

"Our offer for the silicon 5-5-3 metal is still $1,510 / ton, the same as last week," said a Japanese trader. "we are not taking any counter-offers. A week before the New Year holiday, we do not accept prices below $1,510 / ton. The most recent trade was early last month, when we sold 40 tons for $1,480 a ton. "It's their second day on the job and they haven't received any inquiries so far. Their customers have built up inventory, so they have no intention of placing orders at present. They don't expect to receive many orders this month. With little trading, he expects Chinese silicon metal prices to remain stable in the coming week. The trader's regular monthly trade volume of metal and silicon is 700 tons and there is no inventory at present. It is expected to sell about 200 tons this month, down 500 tons from last month.

"Our offer for si 5-5-3 remains at $1,530 / ton, unchanged from last week, and we are not considering any counteroffer at this time. "Last week we could only accept prices above $1,530 a tonne," said another Japanese trader, adding that they last traded 200 tonnes at $1,530 two weeks ago. They had a nine-day New Year holiday and had not received any enquiries since they had just returned to work on Monday. Most Japanese consumers usually buy seasonally and have built up inventories so they have no intention of buying this month. In addition, their suppliers have informed them that they will stop taking orders this week and will resume work after the Spring Festival. He expects prices for the metal silicon in Japan to remain stable next week, given sluggish trading.

The trader's monthly regular trade volume is 200 tons and currently has no inventory. It is expected to sell around 100 tons this month, down 100 tons from last month.