South Africa: Manganese ore exports drop 7% m-o-m in Oct'21

South Africa registered manganese ore exports of 1.65 million tonnes (mnt) in Oct'21 - down by 7% m-o-m as compared to 1.77 mnt in Sep'21. However, manganese ore exports rose by 10% y-o-y to 18 mnt in Jan-Oct'21 as against 16 mnt in the corresponding period last year, revealed data maintained with SteelMint.

Why have exports dropped?

• Export to China fall: South African manganese ore exports to China dropped by 16.21% m-o-m in Oct'21 due to limited demand. However, China continued to be the largest importer of manganese ore (Mn37%) from South Africa at 0.840 mn t in Oct'21. China was more focused on high-grade manganese ore (Mn 44-46%) due to improved demand for high-grade silico manganese (65-16) during the month.
  Meanwhile, less electricity consumption during utilisation of high-grade manganese ore (Mn 44-46%) from Gabon and Australia also reduced the Chinese interest in South African ores.
  
  
• Export to South Korea tumble: Exports of the material to South Korea reduced by a significant 85% m-o-m to 0.02 mnt in Oct'21 as against 0.13 mnt in Sep'21. Adequate inventory held by South Korea in September shrunk the South African manganese ore exports volumes in Oct'21.
  
  
• Exports to India reduce: Manganese ore export volumes to India recorded a drop of 32% m-o-m to 0.25 mnt in October. India has shifted its interest to Gabonese ore (which has high Mn content) owing to robust orders for high-grade silico manganese. This impacted South African exports in Oct'21.
  
  

Manganese alloys exports up 17% in Oct'21

South African manganese alloys exports rose by 17% m-o-m to 27,955 t in Oct'21 from 23,870 t in Sep'21. South African silico manganese export volumes surged by 46% m-o-m to 20,694 t in Oct'21. The United States remained the largest importer with 18,200 t followed by Italy and Spain for South African silico manganese. Due to all-time high prices of silico manganese during October, South Africa was more focused on exporting silico manganese instead of manganese ore. This is the highest volume exported by the country in a month since 2019.

However, ferro manganese exports reduced by 25% to 7,261 t m-o-m in Oct'21. The fall in ferro manganese exports is mainly because of the fall in exports to the United States (by 38%), Germany (by 54% ), and Austria (by 67% ).