China: Silico manganese prices stabilize, sales improve

Chinese silicomanganese (SiMn) prices recovered slightly in the second half of last week after the decrease in the first half, with the national price of 6517 SiMn under Mysteel's assessment reaching Yuan 6,457/tonne ($900/t) including the 13% VAT as of July 14, the same level from one week before.
Sales in the physical market improved somewhat last week, as more steelmakers returned to the market for procurement after leading steel mills clarified their bidding prices of this ferroalloy for deliveries this month, according to a market source in Shanghai.

Last Thursday, Hebei Iron and Steel Group (HBIS), a major steel producer in North China's Hebei province for example, had confirmed its SiMn buying price for July delivery at Yuan 6,700/t, lower by Yuan 180/t from the prior month, according to Mysteel's survey.

SiMn prices in the derivative market also strengthened in the second half week, with the most-traded September contract on the Zhengzhou Futures Exchange closing the daytime session at Yuan 6,724/t as of July 14, higher by Yuan 106/t from the settlement price on July 7.

China's SiMn output continued to decline over the past week with more domestic smelters idling facilities to undertake maintenance.

Over July 7-13, daily SiMn output among the 121 domestic smelters under Mysteel's regular survey was 31,919 tonnes/day on average, down for the second week by another 140 t/d on week. The 121 sampled smelters host 94% of the country's SiMn smelting capacity.

Meanwhile, China's manganese ore prices also gained some support from the improved sentiment in the domestic SiMn market, and some Chinese traders tried to lift their offering prices of their ore given the losses they had suffered since purchasing it, Mysteel Global noted.

As of July 14, the price of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade Mn ore at North China's Tianjin port registered Yuan 30.8/dmtu including the 13% VAT, according to Mysteel's assessment. This was down Yuan 0.2/dmtu on week but higher by Yuan 0.1/dmtu compared with last Thursday, the assessment shows.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.