Demand for Manganese Ore continues to be sluggish on the back of poor demand for Manganese Alloys in India. The Manganese Ore market is finding it difficult to sustain after months of soaring price levels. Australian Manganese Ore grade 46% is being offered at around USD 9.5 /DMTU CIF India for Feb’17 delivery. Price for 36-37% South-African Carbonated Ore has come down, and is being offered by BHP at USD 7.7/DMTU CIF India for February.
UMK declares force majeure at Hotazel following heavy rain
South African miner United Manganese of Kalahari (UMK) has suspended operations and declared force majeure at its Hotazel manganese mine in Kuruman District, South Africa, after heavy rainfall in the region. As the region is not prone to heavy rainfall, and with the Weather Bureau of the said country having predicted heavy rain to continue over the next 7-10 days, supplies are thereby subjected to be delayed/disrupted by around one month. Hence, Carbonate Ore will be in short-supply, which is incidentally also the most in-demand Manganese Ore in India.
Indian Players Adopting A Wait-and-Watch Mode
Stock level of Manganese Ore is still low with the smelters. Manganese Alloy producers are adopting a cautious approach and not willing to take strong positions due to various factors which include the demand-supply mismatch in the Manganese Alloys market and the inherent fear about the future prices of Manganese Ore which still remains unclear after the Chinese demand for imported Manganese Ore has also come down sharply, after a period of sustained restocking ahead of the Chinese New Year Festival. Chinese demand plays an important role, and which is also reported to be weak at the moment as demand slows over the Chinese festivities.
Indian imports have also become expensive due to the weaker Rupee which also contributes to the high cost of Manganese Ore and in turn, the higher Manganese Alloy production cost.
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