China's manganese ore market has more or less returned to a stable trend in the past week, though there has been a very slight uptick in prices. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 44 percent Mn content currently stand at $6.35-6.50/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 $5.95-6.11/dmtu, while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $6.03/dmtu.
Manganese alloy prices have been stable in China in the past week. Meanwhile, trading activity for manganese ore at northern ports has been greater than at southern ports, as usual. Spot manganese inventory is on the scarce side at the ports and so support for prices is expected to continue to be strong. Some mills have increased their purchase prices for manganese alloys by about RMB 100/mt, which is a little lower than expected. Market players say that for now it is still hard to predict the future trend of the domestic manganese ore market, but add that prices may follow a stable trend for a while.