Mysteel: The end of this year’s Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday on February 4 has seen Chinese prices of manganese ore steadily strengthen, mainly in response to the higher offering prices of major overseas miners and market pointers to tightening supply, Mysteel Global learned.
As of February 11, the price of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade manganese ore at North China’s Tianjin port under Mysteel’s assessment was at Yuan 43/dmtu ($5.9/dmtu) including the 13% VAT, rising by significant Yuan 5.5/dmtu from that on February 5, the country’s first working day after the CNY break.
Behind the fast rise were domestic manganese ore traders trying to claw back heftier import costs stemming from the higher offering prices of major overseas suppliers.
For example, Eramet Comilog, a major manganese ore exporter from Central Africa’s Gabon, has decided to hike its price for 44.5% Mn content manganese lump ore for shipment in March to $4.75/ dmtu, up by another $0.45/dmtu on month and Comilog’s third consecutive monthly rise, according to Mysteel’s survey.
Besides, Chinese market participants are also concerned that manganese ore supply may decrease, given the limited shipments of this ore from Gabon, at a time when manganese ore inventories at China’s major ports have declined to a low level.
Mysteel’s latest weekly survey showed that as of February 7, inventories of manganese ore at China’s major ports totalled 4.33 million tonnes, lower by 496,000 tonnes or 10.3% on year. Admittedly, the total was healthier than the 3.93 million tonnes recorded before the CNY holiday.
However, China’s manganese ore prices may lose the impetus to grow further in the near term, as prices of silicomanganese (SiMn) in both the physical and futures markets have retreated, Mysteel Global noted.
On Tuesday, the national price of 6517 SiMn was assessed by at Yuan 6,717/t including the 13% VAT, lower by Yuan 61/t from Monday, though it was still higher by Yuan 425/t from that of a week earlier. Also on February 11, the most-traded SiMn contract on the Zhengzhou Futures Exchange for delivery in May closed the daytime trading session at Yuan 6,664/t, dropping by Yuan 580/t from that on Monday.
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