Here is some excerpts that I found:

The combination of strong demand, tight supply and sharp rises in the costs of freight, energy and chromite raw materials, meant ferro-chrome prices reached their highest levels for ten years in early 2005, at US‘72-74/lb. This represents a significant recovery from early 2002 when prices of US‘27-29lb were at their lowest level for 30 years and some 1.3Mtpy ferro-chrome capacity was idled. Recovery in the ferro-chrome market was primarily due to growth in stainless steel production, which is forecast to maintain strong growth through the mid-2000s, led by Asian demand. Chinese output is estimated to rise from 1.8Mt in 2003 to at least 6Mt in 2008, with growth concentrated in the next two to three years.

However, recent high prices and expectations of continued growth in demand have encouraged plans for significant capacity expansion. Commissioning of all proposed capacity would result in the ferro-chrome market moving into surplus until the end of the decade, exerting downward pressure on prices. The cyclical nature of the ferro-chrome market has resulted in a high degree of vertical integration between chromite mining and ferro-chrome production, and concentration of production among relatively few countries and producers. The increasing vertical integration has put severe pressure on non-integrated producers in times of low ferro-chrome prices.

The key trends, issues and developments in the market are now analysed in this major new report from Roskill. It provides a clear insight into all areas of the industry and an authoritative analysis of the prospects for the future.

Report Highlights

The formation of a joint venture between Xstrata Alloys and SA Chrome in early 2004 created the world s largest ferro-chrome producer. The Xstrata-SA Chrome Venture, Samancor Chrome of South Africa, and Kazkrom of Kazakhstan are the leading producers of chromite and ferro-chrome, accounting for nearly 55% of world output of both products.