China’s manganese imports, prices begin to settle
The growth of China's manganese imports and prices has begun to settle after exploding in 2004. China's manganese ore import increased 11.9 percent year on year to reach 2.93 million tons through January-July 2005 with $469 million trade value. Even though manganese ore import still presented an increasing trend through the first seven months, the extent of the growth has dropped off somewhat. The growth rate in the January–July 2004 period was 62.4 percent. Booming domestic steel demand in 2004 was a major factor in promoting the market demand of manganese alloy and manganese import. The average manganese ore import price rose from $90/ton to $150/ton in 2004, up more than 66 percent. In January 2005, the average manganese import price was about $158/ton. The price peaked at $167/ton in June 2005. Then the manganese ore import price dropped somewhat in July to $150.36/ton, which is a reflection of the stagnant steel market in China.