The spot market prices of manganese ore at Chinese ports have seen a slight drop during the past week. There is still strong demand for ore with a high manganese content. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 44 percent Mn content currently stand at $6.80-6.90/dmtu at
China's Tianjin port, while offers of South African origin lump ore of 44 percent Mn content are at $6.62-6.77/dmtu. Also at Tianjin port, quotations for 38 percent grade Mn ore from Australia are in the range of $6.38-6.62/dmtu, while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $6.09-6.35/dmtu.
Silicomanganese producers have tried to further reduce their purchase prices for manganese ore. The southern district is in its dry season, and so power supply prices are going up again and the profit margins of silicomanganese producers are really small. The silicomanganese price has dropped by about RMB 1,000/mt in
China. Silicomanganese mills in Hebei are reported to have high inventories of silicomanganese and so they are not very eager to purchase manganese ore. Since the current silicomanganese price is going down, producers are not willing to sell the material. Meanwhile, Australian miner BHP Billiton has continued to keep its manganese ore price stable, while manganese ore prices at Chinese ports are relatively stable as well. In this context, it is thought that manganese ore prices in
China may maintain their stable trend up to the end of the year.