China's domestic manganese ore market has mostly followed a stable trend during the past week. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 46 percent Mn content currently stand at $7.21-$7.37/dmtu at China's Tianjin port, while offers of lump ore of 48 percent Mn content are at $7.37/dmtu. Also at Tianjin port, quotations for 44 percent grade Mn ore from Gabon are in the range of $6.73/dmtu, while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $5.99/dmtu.
While manganese ore quotations at Chinese ports have mainly remained stable during the past week, some slight decreases have been observed in transaction prices or traders have been granting small discounts in order to increase sale volumes and bring in cash. However, quoted prices at the ports have not been affected yet. Australian miner BHP Billiton has slightly reduced its quotations for South African origin manganese lump ore (37.5 percent Mn) to $4.85/dmtu FOB, contributing to a slight softening in quotations of this material at Chinese ports. Meanwhile, demand is still on the weak side in the Chinese domestic manganese ore market. The trend in the market in the coming week is expected to remain mostly stable, possibly with some slight downticks also.