China's manganese ore prices edge down as sentiment softens

Chinese prices of manganese ore slipped this week as market sentiment softened with the persistent weakness in manganese alloy prices and the thin sales in the physical market, Mysteel Global learned.
As of June 7, the price of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade Mn ore at North China's Tianjin port was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 31.2/dmtu ($4.4/dmtu) including the 13% VAT, losing Yuan 0.1/dmtu from one week earlier after the short-lived rise during the prior week.

The slight retreat in manganese ore prices was partly blamed on the continuous fall in silicomanganese prices, as many domestic SiMn smelters were avoiding building up their stocks of Mn ore, and transactions in the physical market were scarce.

On Wednesday, the national price of 6517 SiMn under Mysteel's assessment was at Yuan 6,601/t including the 13% VAT, falling by another Yuan 105/t on week and touching the lowest since December 29 2020.

Major Chinese steel mills' bidding prices of the ferroalloy for June deliveries are likely to be Yuan 350-300/t lower from those for May, putting more pressure on spot prices of SiMn and manganese ore, Mysteel Global noted.

For example, Hebei Iron and Steel Group (HBIS), a major steel producer in North China's Hebei province, nominated its SiMn inquiry price for deliveries this month at Yuan 6,850/t, lower by Yuan 300/t from its buying price in the prior month, according to Mysteel's survey.

Although domestic traders are trying to lift their offering prices of manganese ore given their high import costs, maintaining the uptrend in prices of this ore will be hard, given the weak fundamentals.

As of June 2, total inventories of manganese ore at the major ports had touched a two-month low of 6.21 million tonnes, lower for the third week by another 76,000 tonnes or 1.2% on week, according to Mysteel's latest weekly survey.

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