China's manganese ore imports recover slightly in Aug

China's manganese ore imports recovered slightly in August after the steady fall during the previous three months, with the total volume rising by 35,290 tonnes or 1.4% on month to 2.52 million tonnes, according to new data from the General Administration of Customs (GACC).
More manganese ore was delivered to China in August in response to stable demand from local manganese alloy smelters keeping their production high last month, Mysteel Global notes.

For example, total silicomanganese (SiMn) output among the 121 Chinese smelters under Mysteel's tracking during August increased for a fourth consecutive month to 1.02 million tonnes, a new high since December 2013 and higher by 25,254 tonnes or 2.5% from July. The sampled smelters host 94% of China's SiMn smelting capacity.

China's SiMn prices recovered further in August, which improved the smelters' margins and encouraged the makers to keep output high. As of August 31, the national price of 6517 SiMn was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 6,613/tonne ($906/t) including the 13% VAT, higher by Yuan 110/t compared with the end of July.

Although China's manganese ore prices increased in the first half of last month as manganese alloy prices rose, the prices retreated in the second half month as more ore arrived at the major Chinese ports which lifted portside inventories, Mysteel Global noted.

For example, the price of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade Mn ore at North China's Tianjin port was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 30.8/dmtu including the 13% VAT as of August 31, unchanged from one month earlier but lower by Yuan 0.4/dmtu compared with that on August 16.

As of August 25, inventories of manganese ore at the major ports totalled 6.02 million tonnes, higher by 259,000 tonnes or 4.5% on month, according to Mysteel's weekly survey.

For the first eight months of this year, China's total import volume of manganese ore reached 20.34 million tonnes, up by 1.16 million tonnes or 6% compared with the same period last year, the GACC data showed.