Slack activity and rising inventories in Chinese manganese ore market

The Chinese domestic manganese ore market has mostly followed a stable trend in the past week, though with some slight price decreases also observed. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 46 percent Mn content currently stand at $4.31/dmtu at China's Tianjin port, while offers of lump ore of 48 percent Mn content are at $4.63/dmtu. Also at Tianjin port, quotations for 44 percent grade Mn ore from Gabon are at $3.90/dmtu, while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $3.98/dmtu.
 
Trading activity in the Chinese manganese ore market has remained slack in the past seven days. Meanwhile, very small declines have been observed in manganese ore quotations from overseas miners. Manganese ore inventory levels at Chinese ports have continued to increase, which will likely exert downward pressure on prices. As for the coming week, it is believed that the Chinese manganese ore market may move on a slight downtrend.