South Africa: Manganese ore exports fall 16% m-o-m in Feb on demand drop from China, Japan

South Africa's manganese ore exports of grade Mn37% decreased by 16% m-o-m to 1.671 million tonnes (mnt) in February 2022 from 1.984 mnt in January. Major importing countries were China (1.004 mnt), followed by India (0.281mnt), then Japan (0.070 mnt) followed by South Korea (0.077mnt) in February. However, on a yearly basis, exports rose by 8% in February, 2022.

Export of manganese ore volumes to India rose by 5% m-o-m to 0.281 mnt in February. India had good buying interest in South African manganese ore for February shipments, despite the increase in prices for the month of January due to high domestic demand.

• Exports to China down 17% m-o-m in Feb'22
  Manganese ore imports by China decreased by 17% to 1.004 mnt in February, 2022 due to the Chinese New Year holidays and ample inventories available in the domestic market.
  
  
• Exports to Japan down 27% m-o-m in Feb'22
  Japanese imports of manganese ore dropped by 27% to 0.095 mnt in February due to sluggish domestic steel demand and production in Japan which led a shrinking in South African manganese ore exports volumes in February.