- China’s manganese ore imports hit six-month low
- High port stocks weigh on manganese demand
China’s imports of manganese ore reversed down in August after the continuous rise over the prior two months, with the total volume dropping by a marked 515,033 tonnes or 16.7% on month to touch a six-month low of 2.57 million tonnes, according to the latest data released by China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC) on September 20.
The results suggested a lower volume of manganese ore delivered from major overseas mines to China in August, mainly as downstream demand for this ore contracted with Chinese smelters’ further production cuts, Mysteel Global noted.
China’s total silicomanganese (SiMn) output in August fell for the second month to reach 728,080 tonnes, down by 36,240 tonnes or 4.7% on month and marking the lowest since May 2024, according to Mysteel’s survey among the 187 Chinese SiMn smelters it tracks. The sampled smelters host 99% of China’s SiMn smelting capacity.
Despite the decrease in imports, inventories of manganese ore at China’s major ports remained high due to the thin demand. By the end of August, the volume of this ore stocked at the ports monitored by Mysteel totaled 6.13 million tonnes, increasing by 346,000 tonnes or 6% on month.
While domestic manganese ore prices rebounded in the second half of August, as market sentiment improved alongside the recovery in SiMn prices in both physical and futures markets, overseas miners’ profit margins actually narrowed in the past month, and port-side traders still incurred losses on ore imports.
By the end of August, the price of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade ore at North China’s Tianjin port under Mysteel’s assessment came in at Yuan 34.2/dmtu ($5.1/dmtu) including the 13% VAT, up by Yuan 0.5/dmtu on month or rising by Yuan 1.4/dmtu from the recent low on August 12.
On August 31, Mysteel assessed the spot price of 65/17 SiMn at Yuan 5,834/t including the 13% VAT, jumping by Yuan 243/t from one month earlier. The same day, the most-traded SiMn contract on the Zhengzhou Futures Exchange for delivery in November closed the daytime trading session at Yuan 6,090/t, higher by Yuan 366/t from the contract’s settlement price on July 30, according to the exchange’s data.
For the first eight months of this year, China imported 23.14 million tonnes of manganese ore, rising by 2.48 million tonnes or 12% compared with the same period of last year, the GACC statistics showed.
Note: The article is published as part of a content sharing agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.
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