- ZCE Mn ore futures climb up for 3rd straight day
- But buyers stay wary, expecting further price cuts
Mysteel Global: China’s manganese ore prices continued to hover at a low level this week, while sentiment in the domestic market improved to some extent alongside a recovery in silico manganese (SiMn) futures prices, Mysteel Global learnt.
As of 17 June, prices of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade manganese ore at North China’s Tianjin Port were assessed by Mysteel at RMB 32.8/dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) ($4.6/dmtu), including 13% VAT, unchanged from one week before.
Encouraged by rallies of SiMn futures in the past few days, many domestic manganese ore traders resisted selling at lower prices and opted to hold their offers to monitor market changes in the near term.
On Tuesday, the most-traded SiMn contract on the Zhengzhou Futures Exchange for delivery in September closed the daytime trading sessions at RMB 5,536/tonne (t), strengthening for the third consecutive working day, though still lower by RMB 18/t from the settlement price a week ago, according to the exchange’s data.
SiMn prices in the physical market increased accordingly, with the national price of 6517 SiMn under Mysteel’s assessment at RMB 5,457/t, including 13% VAT, as of 17 June, gaining by RMB 7/t from one week before.
However, domestic manganese ore prices are still under pressure, and many Chinese traders are also cautious about placing new import orders, expecting further declines following recent cuts in offers by major overseas miners, Mysteel Global noted.
On 12 June, Eramet Comilog, a major manganese ore exporter from Central Africa’s Gabon, clipped its offers for 44.5% Mn content manganese lump ore by $0.15/dmtu m-o-m to $4.25/dmtu CIF China for July shipments, according to Mysteel’s survey.
In parallel, inventories of manganese ore at China’s major ports piled higher amid increased deliveries from Ghana. Mysteel’s latest weekly survey showed that as of 13 June, total manganese ore stocks at the sampled ports under its regular survey reached 4.4 million tonnes (mnt), rising for the second week by 199,000 tonnes or 4.7% on week.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.
Leave a Reply