Weak activity and high inventories in Chinese manganese ore market

The Chinese domestic manganese ore market continued its stable trend during the past week. The mainstream quotations of Australian lump ore with 46 percent Mn content currently stand at $5.71/dmtu at China's Tianjin port, while offers of lump ore of 48 percent Mn content are at $5.71/dmtu. Also at Tianjin port, quotations for 44 percent grade Mn ore from Gabon are at $5.54/dmtu, while offers of South African lump ore of 38 percent Mn content are at $4.81/dmtu.
 
Manganese ore inventory levels at Chinese ports have continued to rise and import volumes are still at high levels. However, the overall trading volume is still slack. Downstream manganese alloy prices have remained stable during the past week, while alloy production is not expected to increase and so demand volumes for manganese ore are not likely to improve. For the coming week, it is believed that domestic manganese ore prices will remain stable, while trading activity will continue to be sluggish.