Chinese manganese ore prices are expected to keep stable ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday later this month as the domestic market has been quietening, Mysteel Global has learned. Spot market transactions will slow further in the coming two weeks as the January 24 official start to the break nears, sources said.
Mysteel’s price index of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade manganese ore at North China’s Tianjin port reached Yuan 36.16/dmtu (USD5.3/dmtu) as of January 14, according to Mysteel’s database. The price Tuesday was stable – after the small fall of Yuan 0.24/dmtu last Friday – but down Yuan 0.28/dmtu week on week.
“Although our production lines (for Silico Manganese) are still in operation for the moment, we prefer to draw down our existing manganese ore stocks at the yard first, rather than stocking more (manganese ore) before the CNY holiday, given the rise in freight costs,” an official with a SiMn smelter in Central China’s Henan province remarked.
The Henan-based official explained that heavy snowfalls in northern China had disrupted freight movements, with the result that transport fees have increased by Yuan 100-200/t recently. At the same time, fewer transport vehicles available before the holidays – with many truck drivers stopping work to return home for the celebrations – was another reason for contributing to the rise in transport charges.
However, for the time being sentiment in the domestic manganese ore market is not pessimistic, as major overseas miners continued to raise their offering prices for February shipments to China, Mysteel Global notes.
For instance, the United Manganese of Kalahari (UMK), a manganese ore producer and exporter in South Africa has announced that its price for 36% manganese ore will be higher by another USD 0.5/dmtu on month to USD 4.4/dmtu CIF China for February shipments.
In parallel, other manganese ore exporters including Tshipi é Ntle Manganese in South African and Eramet Comilog in Central Africa’s Gabon has also decided to lift their offering prices further for February shipments by USD 0.4-0.63/dmtu CIF China, Mysteel’s survey showed.
Mysteel’s latest weekly survey showed that manganese ore stocks at China’s six main ports for the ore totalled 4.68 MnT as of January 10, retreating for a second week after the record high of 4.74 MnT in late December. The slight reduction gave domestic traders some confidence toward the market once the CNY holidays end and China reopens for business, even though the total of stocks still stayed at a high level.
This article has been published under article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
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