- Smelters in northern China resume operations post maintenance
- Silico manganese production increases by 7% m-o-m in Sep’26
China’s imports of manganese ore recovered in September after the decline during August, with the total tonnage rising by 245,320 tonnes (t) or 9.6% on month to reach 2.81 million tonnes (mnt), according to the latest data released by China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC) on October 20.
Last month, manganese ore imports from major exporters such as Australia, Gabon and Ghana increased by varying degrees, offsetting the decline in tonnage from South Africa, the GACC data showed.
Demand for manganese ore improved slightly, as some manganese alloy smelters in northern China had resumed operations in September after completing maintenance on their smelting facilities.
China’s production of silico manganese (SiMn) increased in September after the decrease over the prior two months, with the total tonnage among the 187 Chinese silico manganese smelters under Mysteel’s survey rising by 50,515 tonnes or 6.9% on month to 778,595 tonnes. The sampled smelters host 99% of China’s silico manganese smelting capacity.
Although inventories of manganese ore at China’s major ports eased to some extent in September, the volume still hovered high due to a rise in import volumes and limited recovery in demand.
Mysteel’s survey showed that by the end of September, the tonnage of this ore stockpiled at the sampled ports nationwide totalled 5.98 million tonnes, down by 2.4% on month. The total was still 33.5% higher compared with one year ago, however.
China’s manganese ore prices stayed under pressure in September, as alloy smelters cut their procurement prices, citing the weakness in silico manganese prices and widening losses on alloy sales.
On 30 September, Mysteel assessed the price of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade ore at North China’s Tianjin port at RMB 33.3/dmtu ($5/dmtu) including the 13% VAT, slipping by RMB 0.9/dmtu from the end of August. During the same period, the spot price of 6517 silico manganese under Mysteel’s assessment had fallen by RMB 164/t on month to RMB 5,670/t including the 13% VAT.
During the first three quarters of this year, China imported 25.95 million tonnes of manganese ore, increasing by 2.2 million tonnes or 9.3% compared with the same period last year, the GACC data showed.
Note: This article has been published in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.
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