India’s imported Manganese Ore market remained weak with sluggish demand and light transactions. Offers from global miners slipped again for June shipment but buyers in India are reluctant to trade on account of the fast depreciating Rupee.
Demand for Manganese Ore continues to be sluggish on the back of poor demand for Manganese Alloys in both India and China. The Manganese Ore market is still finding it difficult to sustain at current price levels. The stock levels of Manganese Ore with Manganese Alloy smelters is still low and nobody is willing to take long positions on Ore unless there is clarity in the direction of Manganese Alloys market. All the shipments which are scheduled to arrive at Indian ports were booked at previous high prices and the Manganese Alloys production cost will still be under pressure due to this. Price for South African Carbonate Ore is around USD 6.7/DMTU CIF India for Jun’18 shipments. Eramet, Gabon has kept its price unchanged and is offering 44% grade at USD 7.5/DMTU CIF India. Whereas, Australian Manganese Ore grade 46% is being offered at around USD 7.8 /DMTU CIF India.
Most market participants expect that the total output of Manganese Alloys in the Indian domestic market will keep at a low level and Imported Manganese Ore prices will continue to be under pressure at least for the time being.
CHINESE MARKET
Chinese demand for imported Manganese Ore has also come down sharply with stock at ports having risen to significant levels. The aggregate Chinese import volume of manganese ore from January to March is 6.06 million tonnes, which compared to same period last year was 5.88 million tonnes, an increase of 3.13%. In view of this, the selling pressure of both alloy and ores are higher than last year coupled with weak demand from steelmakers, leading to a number of small and medium-sized Manganese alloy producers to suspend part of their production capacity or temporarily shut down. However, the large-scale alloy producers are seen in relatively stable operations.
Whereas, with the arrival of pricey manganese ores at ports in May, the major Alloy producers in China are considering buying at significantly lower prices in the spot market to reduce their overall cost of Manganese Ore. This could possibly result in a rise in demand for Manganese Ore and Manganese Ore prices could find further support from an anticipated increased alloy consumption in June and July.
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