The global market for Ferrosilicon is expected to slump by -10.7% in the year 2020 highlighting a US$1.1 billion erosion in market value. Thereafter the market is expected to recover and reach US$10.9 billion by the year 2027 trailing a post-COVID-19 CAGR of 2% over the analysis period 2020 to 2027.In parallel to the steel industry, the ferrosilicon market is also slumping. Ferrosilicon alloys are used widely in steel and aluminum production. Global steel market is expected to slump by -5.5% in the year 2020 highlighting a 6.5 million metric ton erosion in consumption. The construction industry which accounts for 45.7% of world steel consumption is facing the brunt of labor migration, capital constraints and disruptions in construction material supply chain. Diversion of government funds from infrastructure development to pandemic firefighting has additionally impacted the construction industry, which is dependent to a large extent on infrastructure projects. In several countries, all non-essential construction projects have been put on hold with the exception of building emergency hospitals for COVID-19 care. Residential construction is taking a beating with millions of people worldwide pushed into unemployment as businesses either go bankrupt or layoff workforce to stay afloat. Unemployment rates are climbing to worrisome levels in both developed and developing economies alike. For the construction industry, this brings bad news as new housing starts go into deep freeze. The long shadow of the coronavirus is thwarting home-buying plans of consumers. With countries seeing a second wave of infections, the Covid-19 resurgence is likely to undermine the much awaited chances of a V-shaped recovery. Challenges of maintaining social distancing at construction sites is resulting in difficulties in obtaining project clearances from regulatory authorities. Ensuring raw material availability still remains a challenge for most construction contractors.

The machinery industry which is accounts for 18.1% share of global steel consumption is also feeling the weight of falling industrial output and a crumbling manufacturing sector. The worst affected industry in this pandemic driven crisis is manufacturing with its complex supply chains, labor intensive processes, and interdependencies. Division of labor, modular manufacturing strategies, outsourcing to reduce costs and increase the efficiency, consistency, and quality of each operations, have made the manufacturing sector most vulnerable amid the lockdown restrictions. An indication of the grim state of affairs is the fact that global manufacturing PMI is already declining and will fall to an estimated all-time low of 35.4 points in 2020 as compared to 53.8 in 2019. This indicates severe contraction of manufacturing activity including new orders, production, employment, supplier deliveries, inventories, customers` inventories, commodity prices, order backlog, new export orders, and imports. Global industrial output is plummeting sharply with the U.S posting steep declines of -16.5% & -15.2% in March & April 2020. The slumping demand for machine tools in response to these challenges is impacting steel demand and consumption. Transportation and household appliances, which together accounts for 19.2% of world steel consumption, are also feeling the heat of the crumbling aviation, automobile, ship building and consumer durable goods industry. The aviation industry has been brought down to its knees hurt by grounded flights as countries across the world sealed their borders amid stringent travel restrictions imposed in 1Q of 2020. Several airline companies across the world, especially low cost carriers, have already voiced concerns about going bankrupt without timely aid and financial rescue measures from the government. Widespread travel bans and sealing up of international and regional borders by governments worldwide to contain the spread of the disease has been a significant financial blow for airline operators. Even as governments cautiously begin to ease restrictions in 2Q of 2020, the rising second wave of infections is doing but little to bring hope to the aviation industry. With all non-essential travel coming to a halt and with the tourism industry virtually decimated a longer-term impact is more than likely to be felt by the aviation industry. The industry which suffered over US$32.6 billion in April 2020 will likely see the losses mount to over US$120.2 billion by December 2020.

In the post COVID-19 period, increasing use of silicon in the production of aluminum alloys and growing demand for ferrosilicon from high-volume end-use applications such as ferrous foundries, steel and magnesium, will bring back growth. Defined as a ferroalloy of iron and silicon, ferrosilicon typically features silicon content between 15 and 90 wt% and is used in various applications such as manufacture of cast iron; corrosion and high-temperature resistant ferrous silicon alloys; silicon steel for electromotor and transformer cores; prealloys like magnesium ferrosilicon; semiconductor pure silicon and silicon copper, among others. In the automotive and aerospace industry, the growing engineering focus on reducing weight and increasing fuel efficiency will result in increased use of aluminum-silicon alloys. Aluminum when alloyed with silicon enables ease of casting by reducing the melting temperature and increasing the fluidity of the melt; features high strength-to-weight ratio; superior corrosion resistance; high thermal conductivity and ability to recycle over 85% of aluminum during end of life reclamation. Polysilicon or polycrystalline silicon, which finds use in solar applications, will be among the fastest growing end-use markets for silicon. The growing need for deoxidization of various ferrous alloys in steel manufacturing process is expected to favor growth in the FeSi market. Asia-Pacific will remain a major market supported by abundance of raw materials; rise of Asia as the global manufacturing hub backed by the relatively low cost of power and labor; large electronics and semiconductor manufacturing and construction industries and a parallel rise in steel production and processing activities. China ranks as the leading producer and consumer of silicon and ferrosilicon.