SwapX Weekly Report 06/03/2022
WEEKLY REPORT
Chrome Ore market prices, insights by origin on the 06 March 2022.
CHROME MARKET ANALYSIS
With all eyes upon Europe and the Ukraine/Russia conflict, an expectation is that sanctions imposed on Russia will benefit alternative markets. While Russia is a relatively small producer of Chromium, producing less than 1 m tons to South Africa’s 20m tons in 2020, it is likely that the E.U will look to South Africa as an alternative market to satisfy demand.
The South African construction sector is experiencing high inflation in line with international trends. The Construction Input Price Index (CIPI) for structural and reinforcing steel increased by 25,7% year-on-year in January 2022. Any escalation in the current conflict threatens to further disrupt global supply chains, which are a significant driver of the current trend.
The European ferroalloys market pricing trends in February 2022 for chrome alloys were increasing.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to commence with interest rate increases from March 2022. However, any economic slowdown in the U.S economy, potentially as a result of the current geopolitical crisis may result in the Fed adopting a more dovish
(Report by W. Kieser)