Spot market prices of manganese ore at Chinese ports have fluctuated on a downward trend in the past week. Demand for high Mn content ore is still relatively strong. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 44 percent Mn content currently stand at $6.66-6.78/dmtu at China's Tianjin port, while offers of South African origin lump ore of 44 percent Mn content are at $6.56-6.71/dmtu. Also at Tianjin port, quotations for 38 percent grade Mn ore from Australia are in the range of $6.26-6.50/dmtu, while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $5.96-6.22/dmtu.
Currently, manganese ore inventory is relatively high at Chinese ports, while in the meantime domestic siliconmanganese production has been reduced further. Australian mining giant BHP Billiton has unexpectedly announced a large decrease in its quoted manganese ore shipment price for China. Traders have said this reduction in price was against the expectations of everybody in the market. Some believe that the current problem at the ports is the decline of downstream demand and the increase in manganese ore inventory at the ports. Observers believe that BHP's large reduction will not greatly influence the demand from downstream siliconmanganese producers. Meanwhile, the shipments in question from BHP Billiton will not arrive in the Chinese market until February or March next year. In the short term, the Chinese manganese ore market is expected to continue to fluctuate on a weak trend.