China: Manganese ore prices rise to 3.5-month high

• Surging alloys prices boost manganese ore tags
• Portside stocks fall amid better sales, slow arrivals

Mysteel: China’s manganese ore prices strengthened during the past week, with tags of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade manganese ore at North China’s Tianjin Port reaching RMB 34.7/dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) ($4.8/dmtu), including 13% VAT, on 23 July, according to Mysteel’s assessment. Although the w-o-w rise was a tiny RMB 0.7/dmtu, it nonetheless lifted prices to their highest point since 10 April, over three months ago.

The climb in manganese ore prices was mainly attributed to positive domestic market sentiment, as tags of manganese alloys, such as silico manganese, recorded gains in both the physical and futures markets, Mysteel Global learnt.

For example, on 23 July, Mysteel assessed the national price of 6517 SiMn at RMB 5,755/tonne (t), including 13% VAT, jumping by RMB 146/t from one week before.

On the same day, the most-traded SiMn contract on the Zhengzhou Futures Exchange for delivery in September closed the daytime trading session at RMB 5,938/t, higher by RMB 174/t from the settlement price on 16 July, according to the exchange’s data.

Transactions for manganese ore in the spot market improved during the week, as some manganese alloy smelters returned to the market for replenishment, prompting traders to lift their offers accordingly.

Inventories of manganese ore at China’s major ports declined, thanks to better sales and a decrease in imports, with the decrease also lending some support to domestic manganese ore prices.

As of 18 July, stocks of manganese ore at the ports totalled 4.28 million tonnes (mnt), down 42,000 t or 1% w-o-w, according to Mysteel’s weekly survey.

Over 11-17 July, the tonnage of manganese ore delivered to China by the four major exporters — South Africa, Australia, Gabon, and Ghana — totalled 663,200 t, slipping by 9,500 t or 1.4% w-o-w, Mysteel’s other weekly survey showed.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.