China's manganese ore prices remain weak, sales dull

• Weak alloy prices pressure manganese ore market
  
  
• Muted demand and lower imports weigh prices
  
  

Mysteel Global: Manganese ore prices in China continued to soften during the week of April 8-14, mainly due to dull sales in the physical market and the drop in silicomanganese (SiMn) prices, Mysteel Global learned.

On April 14, the price of South Africa-origin 36.5% grademanganese ore at North China's Tianjin port was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 41.5/dmtu ($6.1/dmtu) including the 13% VAT, falling by Yuan 1.7/dmtu on week.

Manganese ore transactions have been scant recently, as many smelters prefer to stay on the sidelines or only buy small quantities to meet their immediate needs, given their thin profit margins on sales of manganese alloys.

In parallel, domestic SiMn prices in both the physical and futures markets have continued to slide, aggravating the wait-and-see sentiment among smelters and putting some pressure on the country's manganese ore market.

On April 14, Mysteel assessed the national price of 6517 SiMn at Yuan 6,001/t including the 13% VAT, slipping by Yuan 169/t from one week before. On the same day, the most-traded SiMn contract on the Zhengzhou Futures Exchange for delivery in May closed the daytime trading session at Yuan 6,190/t, lower by Yuan 220/t from the settlement price on April 7, according to the exchange's data.

Some domestic traders cut their offer prices for manganese ore to facilitate sales, while others held theirs steady, waiting for SiMn futures prices to stabilize, Mysteel Global noted. Traders are also waiting to see how pre-holiday restocking proceeds among smelters ahead of China's Labour Day holiday over May 1-5.

Inventories of manganese ore at China's major ports have edged down with the decline in arrivals, with the volume stocked at the sampled ports monitored by Mysteel reaching 4.97 million tonnes as of April 9, lower by 20,000 tonnes from the prior week.

Mysteel's other survey showed that over April 3-9, the tonnage of manganese ore delivered to China by the four major exporters South Africa, Australia, Gabon and Ghana reached 407,200 tonnes, lower by 61,600 tonnes or 13.1% on week.

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