Indian miners announce manganese ore offers for Mar'24

Indian manganese ore miners have uplifted their offers for March 2024, for grades above 44%, post-MOIL's price announcements.

MOIL, the Indian state-owned PSU miner, has rolled over manganese ore prices for March, 2024. However, for grades below 44%, the miner has lifted offers by 5% m-o-m. A hike in South African imported manganese ore offers and rise in manganese alloy prices have supported domestic manganese ore prices in India.

Price offers from key mining regions:

Madhya Pradesh price offers: Some of the prominent miners from Madhya Pradesh have kept their offers stable for manganese ore for grade above 44% at INR 16,500/t ($199/t), (excluding GST, inclusive of royalty), while prices below 44% hovered in the range of INR 7,000-14,000/t ($85-$169/t).

Notably, prices for grades between 28-30% witnessed a downfall by 37% m-o-m in March, 2024 as miners were hampered by the poor quality of extracted manganese ore and sluggish demand in the domestic market.

Odisha suppliers revise prices in sync with MOIL's offers: Odisha, a major mining state has offered prices only for grades between 24-32% on towering side. Prices hiked by 23% m-o-m for grades between 24-28% to INR 8,000/t ($97/t), (Prices are inclusive of royalty and loading and GST excluding) in March, 2024 as against INR 6,500/t in February, 2024. The offers jelled well with the quotes that MOIL has announced, despite the fact of poor market sentiment.

Vizag miners lower offers m-o-m : One of the key miners from Vishakhapatnam offered only for grades below 25% this month. An official of the miner stated "The overall market is into panic-mode owing to poor market sentiments as demand d-o-d declined, market players are currently dispatching their old stock."

Quotes from Vishakhapatnam lowered by INR 1,000/t ($12/t) for March, 2024 at INR 5,000/t ($60/t)( excluding GST, inclusive of royalty) which was INR 6,000/t ($73/t) in February, 2024.

Factors driving manganese ore prices:

Imported manganese ore offers increase: Imported manganese ore prices exhibited modest upward movement for all grade lumps (37%, 44%, and 46% Mn). Prices increased by $0.08/dmtu w-o-w basis. High-quality manganese ore from Gabon was offered at $4.5/dmtu, indicating an increase of $0.10/dmtu. Similarly, high-grade manganese ore from Australia was valued at $4.8/dmtu, indicating an increase of $0.10/dmtu. Additionally, lumps Mn 37% grade from South Africa was valued at $4.1/dmtu, up by 0.05/dmtu.

Due to higher production and handling charges, overseas producers of manganese ore have raised prices of all grades.

Indian silico manganese prices fall: Prices of the bi-weekly 60:14 grade silico manganese index in Raipur rose by 5% m-o-m to INR 67,810/t in February 2024 (INR 64,580/t in January). The price increase was propelled by mainly three factors. One, a certain amount of production cuts led to lesser supply in the market. Two, there was a spurt in domestic enquiries. Three, a surge in export demand also played a key role. In fact, manufacturers upped prices keeping in mind the export enquiries.

Poor demand for silico manganese in the domestic market has caused disparity in the prices of manganese ore offers from Indian miners. Market players made cautious moves while procuring manganese ore, as silico manganese market is negatively impacted. Domestic silico manganese prices have hit one-month low last week.

However, market is optimistic about the changing price trends in the near future would support manganese ore prices.

Outlook

As per BigMint's analysis prices for manganese ore are anticipated to witness minor fluctuations for April, 2024 offers, after considering the global and domestic scenario. Also, imported prices for manganese ore are suggested to be monitored w-o-w which might throw clarity on the trajectory of future prices.