China's manganese ore imports rise 7% on month in July: GACC

Mysteel: China's manganese ore imports posted an on-month rise in July, with the tonnage up by 150,115 tonnes (t) or 7% to 2.29 million tonnes (mnt), according to the latest data released by China's General Administration of Customs (GACC). For the first seven months of this year, the country's total imports of manganese ore still witnessed an on-year fall of 1.5 mnt or 8.6% to reach 16.27 mnt, the GACC statistics showed.

Overseas mines accelerated their pace of manganese ore shipments to China last month, with Mysteel's survey showing that the volume of manganese ore delivered to China's major ports under its tracking from South Africa, Australia and Gabon totalled 1.89 mnt in July, higher by 13.2% compared with June. Among the total, the tonnage shipped from South Africa jumped by 20% on month to 1.54 mnt last month.

Besides, China's manganese ore consumption among its manganese alloy smelters stayed high in July, which also contributed to the recovery in the country's manganese ore imports last month. For July, total output of silico manganese among the 187 Chinese silico manganese smelters under Mysteel's regular tracking increased for the third month by another 57,835 t or 6.2% on month to touch a nine-month high of 987,980 t. The sampled smelters host 99% of China's silico manganese smelting capacity. On a daily basis, their silico manganese output averaged 31,870 t/day (d) in July, higher by 865 t/d or 2.8% from that for June, the survey results showed.

Manganese ore inventories at China's major ports hovered at a relatively low level thanks to the steady demand from smelters, with the total volume at the ports reaching 4.64 mnt as of 26 July, lower by 176,000 t on month, according to Mysteel's weekly survey. However, China's manganese ore prices lost ground last month under the weight of the fast fall in silico manganese prices and the negative sentiment prevailing in the domestic market.

By the end of July, the price of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade manganese ore at North China's Tianjin port under Mysteel's assessment registered yuan 38.5/dmtu ($5.4/dmtu) including the 13% VAT, sliding by yuan 9/dmtu compared with one month earlier. As of 31 July, the national price of 6517 SiMn was assessed by Mysteel at yuan 6,474/t including the 13% VAT, falling by yuan 829/t from the end of June.

SiMn prices in the derivative market also fell sharply in July, reflecting the pessimism of market participants. On 31 July, the most-traded SiMn contract on the Zhengzhou Futures Exchange (ZFE) for delivery in January 2025 closed the daytime trading session at yuan 6,776/t, dropping by yuan 1,040/t from the settlement price on 28 June, according to the exchange's data. China's manganese ore prices remain under pressure this month, as demand has been restrained by more domestic manganese alloy smelters slowing their production pace to ease the market pressure from the supply side, Mysteel Global learned.