China: Silico Manganese Prices Firm on Tight Supply

The Silico Manganese market in China is relatively stable. The mainstream quotations is concentrated between RMB 7,500-7,700 /MT. The plants in South China are offering at RMB150/MT more than those in North due to the high cost of manganese ore and electricity.

At present, the main producing area in North China is facing continuous power limits and the number of plants in South resorting to maintenance and shutdowns due to high costs is on the rise, resulting in tight supply of spot goods and firm price.

The demand of Silico Manganese can spring back due to the new and upcoming manganese alloys plants in China and China's Rebar regulation which will increase the use of Silico Manganese percentage in steel. However, a series of new Manganese Alloy plants are being set up with a capacity of about 2mnT as per the sources.

Steel Market in China:

Steel demand in China can get a spike as the Chinese government has been introducing a few expansionary measures amidst the trade war which is affecting its growth. Under such measures, reducing of import tariffs and accelerating the implementation of infrastructural projects are of special importance. Also one of the major benefit for the steel market is the plan to construct 44 subway lines in the cities of china which could generate high amount of approximately 80mnT steel demand in the upcoming future.

Entering the second half of the month, the steel mill tenders are expected to roll out soon and close attention should be paid to the changes in downstream demand.

China: Silico Manganese 65-17 Prices