Ferrosilicon and Calcium Silicon Price Trends in China's Export Market

China Ferrosilicon Export Quotations for 20 August

Ferrosilicon is the benchmark ferroalloy for steel deoxidation and alloying, and the seaborne market is quoted every working day for the two grades that dominate export trade: FeSi 72 and FeSi 75. The table below reflects the export quotations assessed for 20 August, expressed in US dollars per tonne on a free-on-board basis at Tianjin Port. Suppliers normally quote a trading range instead of one figure, because the final settlement depends on order volume, payment terms, packaging and the size fraction requested by the buyer.

Product	Grade	Quote (USD/t)	Delivery terms
Ferrosilicon	72	1040-1060	FOB Tianjin Port
Ferrosilicon	75	1100-1130	FOB Tianjin Port
Calcium silicon	Ca30Si60	1370-1410	Tianjin Port
Calcium silicon	Ca28Si58	1360-1400	Tianjin Port

The gap of roughly 60 USD per tonne between the two ferrosilicon grades reflects the higher silicon content of FeSi 75 and the additional refining effort required to hold silicon above 75 percent. Calcium silicon commands a wider premium, because it delivers deoxidation and desulphurisation in a single addition and is produced through a more energy-intensive melt with a controlled calcium-to-silicon ratio.

Calcium Silicon Transaction Prices Across China

Domestic calcium silicon is settled in yuan per tonne with tax included, and the national standard grades Ca1 and Ca2 are quoted separately from the low-aluminium Ca28Si55 and Ca28Si50 grades. Comparing 19 and 20 August shows an unusually flat two-day market, with no movement in any producing province.

Grade	Area	19 August (CNY/t)	20 August (CNY/t)
National standard Ca1	Shaanxi	9300-9400	9300-9400
National standard Ca1	Ningxia	9300-9400	9300-9400
National standard Ca1	Inner Mongolia	9300-9400	9300-9400
National standard Ca2	Shaanxi	9200-9300	9200-9300
National standard Ca2	Ningxia	9200-9300	9200-9300
National standard Ca2	Inner Mongolia	9200-9300	9200-9300
Ca28Si55	Henan	8300-8500	8300-8500
Ca28Si50	Henan	7200-7400	7200-7400

Identical figures on both days mean the market was stable rather than rising or falling, and that the assessed level is a genuine traded price rather than a nominal offer. The step from Ca1 to Ca2 is small, about 100 yuan per tonne, while the low-aluminium grades from Henan are cheaper by roughly 1000 to 2000 yuan per tonne because their calcium content is lower and the specification is aimed at different steelmaking duties.

Silicon Barium and Smelting-Type Inoculant Prices

Silicon barium is used mainly in foundry practice to control graphite morphology and to improve inoculation behaviour in grey and ductile iron. Natural block material is priced ex-works with tax included.

Grade	Area	19 August (CNY/t)	20 August (CNY/t)
Si50-55Ba30	Inner Mongolia	6800-6850	6800-6850
Si50-55Ba30	Gansu	6850-6900	6850-6900
Si65-75Ba4-6	Qinghai	6050-6100	6050-6100
Si65-75Ba4-6	Ningxia	6300-6350	6300-6350
Si65-75Ba2-3	Ningxia	6300-6350	6300-6350
Smelting-type inoculant Si 68 min, Ba4-6, 1-3 mm and 3-8 mm	Inner Mongolia and Ningxia	6700-6800	6700-6800
Smelting-type inoculant Si 68 min, Ba4-6, 1-3 mm and 3-8 mm	Jiangsu and Shaanxi	6900-7100	6900-7100

Barium content is the main price driver in this group: the high-barium Si50-55Ba30 block carries the highest quotation, while the Si65-75Ba2-3 material trades at the same level as Si65-75Ba4-6 in Ningxia. Size-graded inoculant sold from Inner Mongolia and Ningxia is cheaper than the same specification shipped from Jiangsu and Shaanxi, reflecting the shorter transport distance to the furnaces and lower handling cost in the northwestern clusters.

Metallic Calcium Series Prices

Product	Area	19 August (CNY/t)	20 August (CNY/t)
Crude metallic calcium	Shanxi	15300-15800	15300-15800
Metal calcium wire	Henan	18500-18800	18500-18800
Metal calcium particles	Henan	18200-18500	18200-18500

Calcium wire and calcium granules are downstream fabrications of crude calcium, and both carry a processing premium of more than 2500 yuan per tonne over the crude metal. Calcium wire is fed into steel through a cored-wire injection system for inclusion shape control, while granules are used where a slower, more dispersed reaction is preferred. Because both products start from the same crude calcium feedstock, their quotations move together and normally change only when the crude metal price or the fabricating cost changes.

What Moves Ferrosilicon Quotations During a Trading Day

Electricity tariffs and load restrictions in the main producing provinces, since ferrosilicon, calcium silicon and silicon barium are all submerged-arc furnace products and power is the largest single cost item.

Reductant costs, including metallurgical coke, semi-coke and charcoal, together with the quality of the silica source used in the charge.

Steel mill procurement rhythm, because monthly tenders from large mills set the reference level against which spot parcels are negotiated.

Ferroalloy export policy and inspection practice, which can change the delivered cost of an FOB Tianjin shipment within a single quarter.

Ocean freight levels, container availability and exchange-rate movement between the yuan and the dollar, all of which change the dollar quotation without any change in the domestic market.

How to Compare Two Ferroalloy Quotations Correctly

A price is only meaningful when the unit, the delivery term and the specification are fixed. Four checks remove most of the confusion from a daily price list.

Confirm the unit. Seaborne ferrosilicon and calcium silicon are usually quoted in US dollars per tonne, while domestic Chinese transactions are quoted in yuan per tonne with tax included. The two figures are not directly comparable.

Confirm the delivery term. An FOB Tianjin quotation excludes ocean freight and insurance, so it must be adjusted before it can be compared with a delivered price.

Confirm the size fraction. Lumpy material, granules and powder are screened to different ranges and attract different prices even at identical chemistry.

Confirm the date. A quotation assessed on 19 August may not be valid on 20 August, and a flat two-day market is not a guarantee that the level will hold for the following week.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the price of ferrosilicon today?
The assessed export quotations for 20 August are 1040-1060 USD per tonne for FeSi 72 and 1100-1130 USD per tonne for FeSi 75, both FOB Tianjin Port. Domestic Chinese prices are quoted separately in yuan per tonne and include tax.

Q: Why is FeSi 75 more expensive than FeSi 72?
FeSi 75 contains roughly three additional percentage points of silicon, which requires more quartz and more furnace energy per tonne of finished alloy, so the quotation is normally 50 to 70 USD per tonne higher.

Q: How much does calcium silicon cost in China?
National standard Ca1 traded at 9300-9400 CNY per tonne in Shaanxi, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia on 20 August, while Ca2 traded at 9200-9300 CNY per tonne. The export quotations for Ca30Si60 and Ca28Si58 were 1370-1410 and 1360-1400 USD per tonne respectively.

Q: What is the price of silicon barium used for inoculation?
Natural block Si50-55Ba30 was quoted at 6800-6850 CNY per tonne in Inner Mongolia and 6850-6900 CNY per tonne in Gansu. Lower-barium Si65-75Ba4-6 was 6050-6100 CNY per tonne in Qinghai and 6300-6350 CNY per tonne in Ningxia.

Q: Why are the 19 and 20 August prices identical?
Every grade in the calcium silicon, silicon barium and metallic calcium tables carried the same transaction range on both days, which indicates a stable market with balanced supply and demand rather than suspended or untraded quotations.

Q: Does the published range apply to any order size?
No. A published range describes where the bulk of spot transactions settled, and a specific order is priced again according to quantity, chemistry tolerance, size fraction, packaging and payment terms.