In the past week, the Chinese manganese ore market has mostly followed a stable trend, though with slight decreases seen for certain grades of ore. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 44 percent Mn content currently stand at $6.32-6.48/dmtu at China's Tianjin port, while offers of South African origin lump ore of 44 percent Mn content are at $6.32/dmtu. Also at Tianjin port, quotations for 38 percent grade Mn ore from Australia are in the range of $6.00/dmtu, while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $5.92-$6.00/dmtu.
Although China's manganese ore market has been mainly stable during the past week, there have been slight decreases for certain grades of ore amid slack downstream demand and the overall weakness of the domestic steel market. In addition, there is less support from overseas quotations, while traders have a negative view of the likely future market trend. However, as few new manganese ore shipments have arrived at Chinese ports recently, overall inventory at the ports has declined, contributing to greater equilibrium between supply and demand. It is thought that China's manganese ore market will continue to vary between stability and slight decrease in the coming week.