Indian silico manganese prices continue to trend down on sluggish demand

Silico manganese prices in India have been southward-bound since the past one month as producers are receiving fewer inquiries from the market. Currently, prices for the 60-14 grade dropped to INR 94,300/t exw-Durgapur and INR 93,350/t exw-Raipur, as per SteelMint’s assessment.

Dull demand from steel mills
Domestic steel producers are incurring high production costs due to the high prices of ferro alloys in which silico manganese is playing a vital role. Thus, buyers have lessened their purchases and speculating that prices may drop further due to the monsoon when steel demand dampens. Meanwhile, many mills are lowering their production volumes too.

Export demand vanishes
The Indian market is not able to get many export orders amidst the high container costs. Currently, prices for the 65-16 grade silico manganese are at $1,415/t FoB India. SteelMint learned that most of the exporters are booked for Sept-Oct shipments and are thus not able to quote favourable prices in the spot market and for August shipments as well.

Meanwhile, demand from South-East Asia and Europe has waned as some steel mills are under maintenance shutdown. That apart, container shortage and increased freight rates have pushed up prices of silico manganese, prompting a few European smelters to cut their production.

Higher manganese ore prices
Manganese ore prices were hiked by 12% on the base price in SMIORE’s Karnataka e-auctions conducted on 20 Jul’21 in line with higher prices of manganese alloys. Buyers are even expecting that MOIL’s prices will be rolled over for August dispatches.

In addition, higher grade manganese ore prices have remained unchanged w-o-w, which further made domestic smelters stick on the higher side. However, subdued demand is pressuring them to lower their prices.

But, South African manganese ore prices in China have decreased as there is enough inventory at Tianjin Port due to a strict power deficit causing production cuts in China.

Outlook
Prices of silico manganese may rebound after the monsoon once demand and prices of steel improve.