The Chinese manganese ore market has remained stable since the return from the Spring Festival/Chinese New Year holiday. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 46 percent Mn content currently stand at $7.16-$7.32/dmtu at
China's Tianjin port, while offers of lump ore of 48 percent Mn content are at $7.24/dmtu. Also at Tianjin port, quotations for 44 percent grade Mn ore from Gabon are in the range of $6.45-$6.61/dmtu, while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $6.69/dmtu.
During the Chinese New Year holiday, few new shipments of manganese ore arrived at Chinese ports. With the holiday just having ended, the trading volume in the Chinese manganese ore market is still small and so prices have not indicated any changes yet. While the trend in foreign markets provides support for the upward movement of manganese ore prices in
China, domestic purchase prices for manganese
alloys have weakened during February. It is thought that Chinese manganese alloy producers have sufficient manganese ore stocks for the time being and are not under pressure to conclude purchases of manganese ore immediately.