China: Silico Manganese Prices Marginally Down Post-Holidays

The Silico Manganese price in China is unlikely to go down further, although it halted from rising before the National Day holiday. The major steel mills' tender prices in various regions for October are stable, with the price of the Silico Manganese 65-17 mostly seen at RMB 8900-9000/MT (USD 1285-1300/MT), a decrease of RMB 200-300/MT (USD 29-43/MT) M-o-M which is roughly in line with market expectations.

Post-holiday, the overall market continued to be stable while quotations from some factories decreased slightly. It was observed that most factories are mainly committed to delivering prior orders from steel mills. The mainstream Silico Manganese price is assessed in the range of RMB 8,400-8,600/MT (USD 1213-1242/MT).

The Silico Manganese 65-17 grade price was observed to be weaker as it registered a marginal fall on 8th October especially in provinces such as Henan, Hebei, Shandong, and Jiangsu at RMB 8,685-8,979/MT (USD 1254-1296/MT).

Silico Manganese grade 60-14 also continued to maintain stability. Producers in major producing areas of Guangxi, Guizhou, and Hunan maintained a level of RMB6,600/MT (USD 953/MT) with deals being concluded at RMB 6,500-6,600/MT (USD 938-953/MT).

The manganese ore stock has also reduced notably before the holidays as the Silico Manganese producers were replenishing their inventory. The prices of the ore were also observed to have edged up in the bullish market. However, demand remained moderate with rising in its price. Market participants believed that ore price might continue to rise if market of Silico Manganese remains healthy.

On the future outlook, Silico Manganese may continue to operate smoothly, but manganese ore price may rise as the transaction of alloys picks up. However, one should be wary of the new capacity under high profit and the fluctuation of demand caused by steel production after entering the winter season.