Japanese silicon metal market demand is weak

Due to weak sales in the terminal market, many downstream consumers of Japanese silicon metal have cut production, leading to weak demand. The current Japanese silicon 5-5-3 mainstream price of $1,410- $1,430 / ton handed in, unchanged from last week. Industry insiders expect Japanese silicon prices to hold steady in the coming week, given weak demand but rising procurement costs. "We haven't received any inquiries or orders in the past two weeks," said a Japanese trader. Our last order was two weeks ago for 20 tons of silicon 5-5-3 at $1,430 a ton." Their offer for silicon 5-5-3 is $1,430 / t, unchanged from last week. He added that many of his regular customers ask about their silicon price forecasts for 2020, and as they struggle to control costs for their own products due to weak sales, they need to make purchasing plans and strategies for 2020 based on price trend forecasts. Their suppliers say the price rose by $14 a tonne this week and will continue to rise the following week, as upstream manufacturers will stop production later this month due to demand. Given weak demand but higher procurement costs, he expects Japanese silicon prices to remain stable in the coming week. The trader, currently out of stock with a regular monthly trading volume of 200 tons, expects to sell 20 tons in October, down 80 tons from the previous month.

"The market is very quiet and we haven't received any enquiries or orders for the past three weeks. "We last sold 20 tonnes of silicon 5-5-3 at $1,420 a tonne earlier this month," said another Japanese trader, adding that the automotive industry, one of the main end-users of silicon, was experiencing some relief from weak sales. China and the United States, the two biggest consumers of Japanese cars, have seen sales plummeet due to the trade war. Sales of Japanese car exports have plunged by more than 20% this year. Their suppliers say they will have to raise prices by $10-20 a tonne next week after upstream producers raised prices by 100-200 yuan ($14-28), and they expect prices to continue to rise. He expects Japanese silicon prices to hold steady in the coming week due to weak demand but higher procurement costs. The trader, currently out of stock, expects to sell 20 tons in October, down 20 tons from the previous month.