International Ferro Metals (IFM), the largest Ferro-Chrome producer of South Africa has been building up inventory considering recent price hike.

FeCr price is soaring driven by the recovery of stainless steel industry. The contract price of the first quarter of 2010 is US$1.01/lb, slightly down from that of last quarter. The price of next quarter is predicted to increase to US$1.15/lb.

However the CEO from IFM suggested to lift it to US$1.20~1.30/lb.

IFM produced 94,715 tons of FeCr in the second half of 2009, 5 times that of first half, and raise their inventory to 32,504 tons last December.