China’s manganese ore imports jump 27% m-o-m in Aug’25

• Manganese ore imports surge on strong demand
• Silico manganese output climbs to 13-month high

The sharp on-month growth underscored the keenness of overseas miners for shipping manganese ore to China, mainly due to the steady demand for this ore from manganese alloy smelters and the relatively favourable manganese ore prices in the domestic market, Mysteel Global learned.

For August, total production of silicomanganese (SiMn) in China increased for the third consecutive month to touch a 13-month high of 909,250 tonnes, higher by 89,640 tonnes or 10.9% from July, according to Mysteel’s latest monthly survey among the 187 Chinese SiMn smelters under its tracking. The sampled smelters host 99% of China’s SiMn smelting capacity.

China’s manganese ore prices hovered at a relatively high level last month thanks to the better demand, though prices retreated slightly in the second half of the month following the retreat in SiMn prices, Mysteel Global noted.

At the end of August, Mysteel assessed the price of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade manganese ore at North China’s Tianjin port at Yuan 34/dmtu ($4.8/dmtu) including the 13% VAT, down by Yuan 1.3/dmtu from one month earlier, while the national price of 6517 SiMn under Mysteel’s assessment had slipped by Yuan 153/t on month to reach Yuan 5,684/t including the 13% VAT.

Inventories of manganese ore at China’s major ports accumulated in August as imports picked up. Mysteel’s survey showed that as of August 29, the volume of this ore at the sampled ports totalled 4.41 million tonnes, higher by 29,000 tonnes from end-July.

During the first eight months of this year, China imported 20.67 million tonnes of manganese ore in total, rising by 1.8 million tonnes or 9.5% compared with the same period last year, according to the GACC statistics.

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