China's manganese ore prices to remain weak in near term

Chinese prices of manganese ore are likely to remain weak for the immediate future, being pressured by mounting inventories at China's major ports and the weakness of the country's manganese alloys markets, Mysteel Global learned.
As of May 9, 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 ($4.5/dmtu) including the 13% VAT, lower by another Yuan 0.4/dmtu from the end of April and making for the lowest since December 7 2020.
Inventories of manganese ore at China's major ports are still at a very high level, putting more pressure on the prices of this ore, even though the volume has retreated somewhat to 6.3 million tonnes as of May 5, lower by 180,000 tonnes from the two-year high reached in the prior week, according to Mysteel's latest weekly survey.

In parallel, transactions of this ore in the physical market were inactive as silicomanganese smelters slowed their pace of production after noting the persistent weakness in SiMn prices. Their consumption of manganese ore has decreased accordingly, Mysteel Global noted.

As of May 9, the national price of 6517 SiMn under Mysteel's assessment had slipped to a two-year low of Yuan 6,905/t including the 13% VAT, down by another Yuan 75/t from the end of April.

However, some manganese ore traders are unwilling to trim their sales prices further, survey respondents said. Although major overseas mines cut their offering prices further for June deliveries to China, the decrease was smaller than the market had expected.

"It means that Chinese (manganese ore) traders will have to bear high import costs in the coming term, despite the poor performance of manganese ore prices domestically," a market source in Shanghai said.

South32, the world's top manganese ore miner headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, has decided to cut its offering price for South Africa-origin 36% grade manganese ore lump by $0.3/dmtu on month to $4.05/dmtu CIF China for shipments in June, and that for 45% grade Australian manganese ore lump has been lowered by $0.4/dmtu on month to $5/dmtu CIF China.

Eramet Comilog, another major manganese ore exporter from Central Africa's Gabon, has also clipped the price of its 44.5% Mn content lump ore by $0.45/dmtu on month to $4.65/dmtu CIF China for June shipments, according to Mysteel's survey.

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