The Chinese manganese ore market has mostly remained stable in the past week, but some high Fe content inventories were low and so prices of these materials have risen slightly. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 44 percent Mn content currently stand at $6.36-6.52/dmtu at China's Tianjin port, while offers of South African origin lump ore of 44 percent Mn content are at $6.50-6.67/dmtu. Also at Tianjin port, quotations for 38 percent grade Mn ore from Australia are in the range of $5.71-5.87/dmtu, while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $5.87-6.02/dmtu.
The import manganese ore market in China was mostly stable in the past week, with only a slight rise seen in prices of certain high Fe content materials. Currently, inventory of manganese ore is quite high at Chinese ports and downstream demand is slack, and so traders do not have much confidence in the short-term prospects of the market. Most traders are maintaining a wait-and-see stance. Australian miner BHP Billiton's March quotations for manganese ore to China have indicated no change. It is expected that in the short term the manganese ore market of China will remain stable. Meanwhile, siliconmanganese producers are limiting their production, causing manganese ore demand to drop down and so causing inventory levels at the ports to rise.