- Weak alloy margins, elevated inventories cap Chinese demand
- Improving Australian supply adds pressure on manganese prices
South32 has cut its October manganese ore offers to China for both South African and Australian material, pointing to softer near-term procurement sentiment. The move comes as Chinese buyers remain selective and miners face increasing pressure to compete for spot demand.
The producer reduced its South African 37% semi-carbonated ore offer by $0.30/dmtu to $4.20/dmtu CIF China, while its Australian 42% ore offer fell $0.23/dmtu to $4.77/dmtu for October shipments.
The price cuts come amid cautious Chinese buying, weak alloy margins, and elevated inventories, which have weakened the miner’s bargaining power. Additionally, improving Australian production has increased material availability. Softer spot demand and greater competition among suppliers have also limited miners’ pricing power and prompted lower benchmark offers.
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