The manganese ore market in China has continued to see stable quotation levels in the past week, though some actual deal prices have been slightly lower. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 44 percent Mn content currently stand at $6.36-6.52/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 $5.71-5.87/dmtu, while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $5.81-5.96/dmtu.
Demand has remained sluggish in the Chinese manganese ore market. Domestic steel mills have pushed down their purchase prices for silicon manganese, causing silicon manganese market prices to drop and resulting in reduced silicon manganese production. In turn, this has meant lower demand for manganese ore. Traders holding a negative view about the future trend of the domestic manganese ore market and so some have slightly softened their offer prices. Meanwhile, Australian miner BHP Billiton has released its manganese ore quotations for China for the month of April, mostly keeping prices unchanged from March. Observers believe the Chinese manganese ore market will follow a stable or slightly weak trend in the short term.