Chinese domestic manganese ore prices have been stable or moved down slightly during the past week. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 46 percent Mn content currently stand at $5.29/dmtu (RMB 38/dmtu) at China’s Tianjin port, while offers of lump ore of 48 percent Mn content are at $4.87/dmtu (RMB 35/dmtu). Also at Tianjin port, quotations for 44 percent grade Mn ore from Gabon are at $5.15/dmtu (RMB 37/dmtu), while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $4.39/dmtu (RMB 31.5 /dmtu).
Overall trading activity in the domestic manganese ore market is again weak since the downstream manganese alloy market has followed a soft trend. Ore supply volume has lately indicated some increases, exerting pressure on prices of certain ore grades. Since profits are not so good most alloy producers have maintained a wait-and-see stance again as regards their ore purchases. As for the week ahead, it is believed that manganese ore prices may move down slightly.
$1 = RMB 7.180