China: Manganese ore prices climb higher, demand improves

• South African ore prices rise to early-Apr levels
  
  
• Higher manganese alloy output lifts ore demand
  
  

Mysteel Global: China's manganese ore prices climbed further this week, thanks to improved demand from manganese alloy smelters and the strong futures-market prices of these alloys, Mysteel Global learnt.

On 30 July, Mysteel assessed prices of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade manganese ore at North China's Tianjin Port at RMB 35.5/dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) ($4.9/dmtu), including the 13% VAT, rising by RMB 0.8/dmtu w-o-w and marking the highest since 8 April.

Demand for manganese ore has improved further, as some Chinese manganese alloy smelters ramped up production when rising market prices meant they could gain some profits on sales.

For example, silico manganese (SiMn) output among the 187 Chinese smelters under Mysteel's tracking averaged 26,640 tonnes (t)/day over18-24 July, increasing for the tenth consecutive week by 520 t/d w-o-w on average and touching a three-month high. The 187 sampled smelters host about 99% of China's SiMn smelting capacity.

Meanwhile, SiMn prices in both the physical and futures markets have remained strong recently, lifting market sentiment and encouraging domestic manganese ore traders to raise their offers.

On 30 July, the national price of 6517 SiMn under Mysteel's assessment came in at RMB 5,896/t, including 13% VAT, up by RMB 141/t from one week earlier and recording the highest since 3 April.

On the same day, the most-traded SiMn contract on the Zhengzhou Futures Exchange for delivery in September closed the daytime trading session at RMB 6,116/t, higher by RMB 160/t from the settlement price on 23 July, according to the exchange's data.

Meanwhile, major overseas mines decided to raise their offers of manganese ore for shipments to China in September, a move that also lent some support to domestic prices of this ore from the cost side.

South32, the world's top manganese ore miner headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, recently announced that it was raising its offers for South Africa-origin 37% grade manganese ore lumps by $0.15/dmtu m-o-m to $4.05/dmtu CIF China for September shipments, according to Mysteel's survey.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel GlobalandBigMint.