The Chinese manganese ore market has generally been characterized by slack trading activity, while prices have seen slight decreases for certain ore grades. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 44 percent Mn content currently stand at $6.32/dmtu at China's Tianjin port, while offers of South African origin lump ore of 44 percent Mn content are at $6.32/dmtu. Also at Tianjin port, quotations for 38 percent grade Mn ore from Australia are at the level of $6.00/dmtu, while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $5.92-6.00/dmtu.
The Chinese manganese alloy market has continued to be negatively impacted by the overall weakness of the steel markets, while alloy producers continue to seek reductions in prices of manganese ore from suppliers. Meanwhile, quoted manganese ore prices of Australian miner BHP Billiton for September are unchanged. In this context, many traders prefer to adopt a wait-and-see approach rather than cut their prices in order to attract sales. Confidence levels in the market are still low. It is expected that the Chinese manganese ore market will continue to follow a soft trend in the coming seven days.