The Chinese domestic manganese ore market has moved down slightly during the past week. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 46 percent Mn content currently stand at $5.97/dmtu (RMB 41/dmtu) at China's Tianjin port, while offers of lump ore of 48 percent Mn content are at $5.82/dmtu (RMB 40/dmtu). Also at Tianjin port, quotations for 44 percent grade Mn ore from Gabon are at $5.53/dmtu (RMB 38/dmtu), while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $4.51/dmtu (RMB 31/dmtu). ($1 = RMB 6.87)
The Chinese manganese ore market has followed a slight downtrend in the past week, mainly due to pressure from high inventories at Chinese ports. Overall trading activity remains at low levels, and has been negatively impacted by the soft trend of the downstream manganese alloy market. Foreign suppliers and domestic traders now appear to be reluctant to reduce their quotations further. As for the coming week, it is believed that manganese ore prices in China may move sideways or just indicate slight fluctuations.