China's manganese ore prices likely to stay firm in near-term

The high prices that Chinese traders are currently paying for manganese ore, together with hopes for increased consumption of the raw material by manganese alloy smelters, suggest that Mn ore prices should stay firm for the time being, industry sources said. As of 22 May, the price of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade manganese ore at North China's Tianjin port under Mysteel's assessment was at yuan 53/dmtu ($7.3/dmtu) including the 13% VAT, still at a high level though lower by a tiny yuan 0.5/dmtu from one week before.

Domestic manganese ore traders are trying to lift their offering prices, as they expect that their import costs will move higher with the further rise in offering prices of major overseas miners.

Meanwhile, consumption of manganese ore among Chinese silico manganese smelters is expected to grow as many smelters may resume operations or lift production soon, given their improved profitability while domestic silico manganese prices are hovering high, mysteel Global noted.

As of 22 May, the national price of 6,517 silico manganese was assessed by mysteel at yuan 8,030/t including the 13% VAT, lower by yuan 99/t on week but higher by yuan 152/t from this Monday.

On Wednesday, the most-traded silico manganese contract on the Zhengzhou Futures Exchange (ZFE) for delivery in September closed higher for the fourth trading day at yuan 8,816/t, up by yuan 412/t from the settlement price on 15 May, according to the exchange's data.

"Some silico manganese smelters have returned to the market to purchase manganese ore, and inquiries for ore in the physical market have increased this week," a market watcher in Shanghai said.

Inventories of manganese ore at China's major ports have steadily declined during recent weeks, which is also lending some support to manganese ore prices. As of 17 May, the total volume of manganese ore at the ports reached 4.74 million tonnes (mnt), lower by another 140,000 tonnes (t) or 2.9% from the previous week, according to mysteel's latest weekly survey.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between MySteel Global and BigMint.