- Offers from AP dip amid cheaper portside supply
- Cautious sentiment, price resistance impact trade
Manganese ore offers from Indian miners remained unchanged in September 2025, in line with MOIL’s recent price adjustment.
State-owned miner MOIL rolled over its manganese ore prices, effective 1 September 2025. According to the company’s official release, prices of all ferro grades — both above and below 44% Mn content — were kept unchanged. Similarly, prices of all SMGR categories, including Mn30% and Mn25%, were rolled over m-o-m.
In contrast, during the previous month, MOIL had implemented a 3% price increase for ferro grades while reducing prices for SMGR categories, including Mn30% and Mn25%, by 3%.
Region-wise price adjustments
Madhya Pradesh: Manganese ore grades of 30-32% remained unchanged m-o-m, in line with MOIL’s recent price roll-over. Private miners in the region pointed to subdued market conditions, citing labour shortages due to the ongoing monsoon season, which has pushed up production costs.
Despite rising input costs, buyers showed limited acceptance towards higher offers, creating a pricing disconnect. According to miners, MOIL’s decision to maintain prices influenced regional sentiment, limiting their ability to pass on increased operational costs to buyers.
Odisha: Manganese ore offers in the state remained largely stable, with 30-32% grades inching up by 5% and 28-30% Mn up by 6%. Market participants continued to adopt a cautious wait-and-watch approach amid ongoing uncertainty in demand.
A key regional miner told BigMint, “Buying activity is mostly happening at lower prices, as demand from the downstream segment remains weak, which in turn is putting pressure on our offers.”
With limited signs of recovery in end-user demand and heightened buyer resistance to prevailing rates, miners are finding it difficult to justify any upward price revisions.
Andhra Pradesh: Manganese ore miners in Andhra Pradesh reduced offers by around 2% m-o-m. The correction was largely driven by a shift in buyer preference towards port-side material, which offered better availability and logistics, thereby intensifying competition in the region.
“With demand diverting toward port inventories, we were under pressure to align our prices accordingly,” a local miner noted.
Factors influencing manganese ore prices
Domestic silico manganese prices drop m-o-m: Domestic prices of 60-14 grade silico manganese decreased by INR 1,900/tonne (t) ($22/t) m-o-m to around INR 71,000/t ($805/t) exw-Raipur in August, compared with INR 72,900/t ($827/t) in July, as per BigMint’s assessment. Indian silico manganese prices recently dropped to a 3-month low in Raipur, driven by weak export demand and limited inquiries.
India’s SiMn export offers edge down m-o-m: Silico manganese (60-14) export offers inched down by $7/t to $848/t FOB India in August, compared with $855/t in July. Meanwhile, the 65-16 grade remained unchanged m-o-m at $932/t FOB India in August. India’s silico manganese export prices edged down m-o-m amid limited inquiries, as buyers from key markets remained cautious.
Imported high-grade ore prices edge up m-o-m: South African manganese ore (37%) prices increased slightly to a monthly average of $4.18/dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) in August, compared with $4.06/dmtu in July. Meanwhile, for manganese ore of Australian (46%) origin, prices rose by 2% to $4.72/dmtu in August against $4.62/dmtu in July. Gabon-origin ore (Mn44%) also moved up by 2% to $4.41/dmtu in August, as against $4.32/dmtu in July.
Global miners lift offers for Sep’25: In September 2025, major manganese ore suppliers raised their CIF China offers. Jupiter Mines and UMK set prices for 36-36.5% semi-carbonate lumps at $4.05/dmtu, up $0.15/dmtu m-o-m. Eramet Comilog increased offers for Mn44.5% and Mn43% Gabonese ore to $4.27/dmtu and $4.07/dmtu, respectively — each up $0.07/dmtu m-o-m. South32 raised its offers to $4.05/dmtu for South African 37% ore (up $0.15/dmtu) and $4.45/dmtu for Australian 42% ore (up $0.10/dmtu), reflecting a firmer global pricing trend.
Indian billet prices inch up m-o-m: Domestic billet prices edged up by 1% m-o-m to INR 37,400/t ($424/t) exw-Raipur in August, compared with INR 37,000/t ($420/t) in July. The slight uptick was driven by steady domestic demand, some supply disruptions, and relatively firm sponge iron and scrap prices.
Outlook
The stability in manganese ore prices is expected to persist in the short term amid subdued demand and cautious buyers, while regional cost pressures and global supply dynamics may create localised pricing volatility in the coming months.
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