The Chinese domestic manganese ore market has continued its stable trend during the past week. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 46 percent Mn content currently stand at $4.11/dmtu at China’s Tianjin port, while offers of lump ore of 48 percent Mn content are at $4.27/dmtu. Also at Tianjin port, quotations for 44 percent grade Mn ore from Gabon are at $3.64/dmtu, while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $3.48/dmtu.
Overall trading activity in the Chinese manganese ore market has remained at low levels, while the devaluation of the Chinese currency has increased import costs, thereby causing demand to weaken even further. Downstream alloy prices are still characterized by a soft trend and so they do not provide much support for manganese ore prices. Foreign miners may reduce their quotations slightly for October shipment due to the weaker Chinese currency. As for the coming week, it is expected that manganese ore prices in China will continue to follow a stable trend.