China's manganese ore prices stay firm, sales dull

Manganese Price
Chinese prices of manganese ore kept firm over the past week, with the price of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade Mn ore at North China's Tianjin port under Mysteel's assessment reaching Yuan 30.8/dmtu ($4.3/dmtu) including the 13% VAT as of July 18, gaining Yuan 0.1/dmtu from one week before.
Domestic manganese ore traders refused to concede more in their offering prices of this ore, as the decrease in Mn ore inventories at China's major ports gave them some confidence - even though transactions at the ports were scarce, Mysteel Global noted.

As of July 14, inventories of manganese ore at the major ports totalled 6.02 million tonnes, lower by 182,000 tonnes or 2.9% from the prior week and marking the lowest total since mid-February, according to Mysteel's latest weekly survey.

However, sellers of the ore will have difficulty lifting prices in the near term, as silicomanganese smelters are trying to cut their procurement prices of raw materials including Mn ore to reduce their smelting costs - given how weak SiMn prices are. This may persuade some manganese ore traders to lower their offering prices to facilitate sales, Mysteel Global learned.

SiMn prices in the physical market softened over the past week despite the uptick in the derivative market. As of July 18, the national price of 6517 SiMn was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 6,442/t including the 13% VAT, edging down Yuan 6/t on week.

On the same day, the most-traded October contract on the Zhengzhou Futures Exchange closed the daytime session at Yuan 6,588/t, higher by Yuan 22/t from the settlement price on July 11.

Chinese manganese ore prices are expected to stay weak overall in the coming term, as stocks of this ore at the ports remain relatively high and demand from users is likely to be limited over the coming two months, a market source in Shanghai predicted.

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