The Chinese domestic manganese ore market has mostly followed a stable trend during the past week, but with some signs of a softening of prices. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 46 percent Mn content currently stand at $7.16-$7.32/dmtu at China's Tianjin port, while offers of lump ore of 48 percent Mn content are at $7.32/dmtu. Also at Tianjin port, quotations for 44 percent grade Mn ore from Gabon are in the range of $6.69/dmtu, while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $6.37/dmtu.
Although quotations in China's manganese ore market still generally continued to maintain a stable trend during the past week, some slight price decreases in actual transactions have been reported. Increases in quotations of certain overseas miners provide some support for domestic quotations. Meanwhile, domestic manganese alloy prices still indicate a soft trend, thereby placing downward pressure on the local manganese ore market, where confidence levels are on the low side. The Chinese manganese ore market is now caught between high overseas quotations and the weakness of the downstream alloy market. In this context, it is thought that the domestic manganese ore market may see slight decreases for certain grades of ore in the coming week.