Australian miner BHP Biliton has cut offering of GEMCO manganese
ore to India on the back of weak demand & short supply, said sources.
An Indian alloys producer said demand for fresh seaborne
manganese ore was soft in India as output for manganese alloys had been scaled
back due to weak demand in export markets. “We don’t need fresh ore, we have
stocks and with reduced manganese alloys output we don’t need more,†the
producer said.
He added that with maintenance issues at BHP Biliton’s GEMCO
mines, the producer was not offering GEMCO ore to India.
A source close to BHP said that as the miner had come out of
a major maintenance shutdown it had decided to offer a bypass material, 43.5%
Mn ore, to Indian buyers as it had contracts to fulfill in China. “BHP cut back
on India as it’s a liquid and spot market. It’s short on GEMCO material and has
contracts in China to fulfill and spot sales,” the source said. “India's ore
demand is lower and producers are holding around two months worth of stock.”
The source added that demand from China was firm as mills
required more manganese alloys on increased output.
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