The Chinese manganese ore market has continued to follow an upward trend during the past week. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 44 percent Mn content currently stand at $7.16/dmtu at China's Tianjin port, while offers of South African origin lump ore of 44 percent Mn content are at $6.77/dmtu. Also at Tianjin port, quotations for 38 percent grade Mn ore from Australia are in the range of $6.85/dmtu, while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $6.69/dmtu.
Australian miner BHP Billiton's quotations for March indicate a rise of $0.25/dmtu. However, major domestic steel producer Hebei Steel Group has successfully reduced its manganese alloy purchase prices for February, which means there is now significant cost pressure on local manganese alloy producers. Market observers state that domestic manganese ore prices are already at very high levels and that time will be needed to see how BHP's higher quotations will impact market prices. At the same time, it is not certain whether or when BHP Billiton will switch from monthly to weekly price announcements. Accordingly, some uncertainty also surrounds the likely future trend of the domestic manganese ore market. For the coming week, however, it is believed China's domestic manganese ore market will move up further, though by a smaller margin.