- Manganese ore prices rise on miner offers
- Port inventories decline amid improving alloy demand
Mysteel Global: Manganese ore prices in China have risen recently, with Mysteel’s assessment on March 10 putting the price of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade manganese ore at North China’s Tianjin port at a 13-month high of Yuan 39.5/dmtu ($5.8/dmtu) including the 13% VAT higher by Yuan 1.5/dmtu on week.
The firm manganese ore prices are being primarily supported by higher offers from major overseas mines for shipments to China in April, as reported. The higher import costs being borne by domestic manganese ore traders are encouraging them to hike their sales prices accordingly, Mysteel Global learned.
In late February, South32, the world’s top manganese ore miner headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, raised its offers for manganese ore shipments to China next month. Following this move, other major overseas mines adopted a similar pricing policy.
For example, Eramet Comilog, a major manganese ore exporter from Central Africa’s Gabon, decided to lift its price for 44.5% Mn content manganese lump ore by $0.27/dmtu on month to $5.25/dmtu CIF China for April shipments, according to Mysteel’s survey.
In parallel, demand for manganese ore from alloy smelters is expected to firm as silico manganese (SiMn) output is seen recovering. This is giving Chinese manganese ore traders some confidence to keep their sales prices high.
Meanwhile, inventories of manganese ore at China’s major ports have declined with the improved demand. As of March 5, the total tonnage stocked at the Chinese ports under Mysteel’s tracking had reached 4.73 million tonnes, slipping by 226,000 t or 4.6% from the prior week.
However, high-priced manganese ore may struggle to find buyers, as alloy smelters are unwilling to purchase ore at such high prices, given their poor profitability and indications that SiMn prices are retreating, Mysteel Global noted.
On March 10, Mysteel assessed the national price of 6517 SiMn at Yuan 5,864/t including the 13% VAT, down by Yuan 56/t on day, even though it was still Yuan 125/t higher compared to one week earlier.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.
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