Manganese ore prices are showing signs of recovery after a poor start to 2019 that was blamed largely on bearish sentiment around silico-manganese and steel markets in China.
Low-grade manganese ore prices have edged up in late January amid a flurry of demand ahead of Chinese New Year, which meant some of the firmer offers in the market were successful, despite the fact that some miners had cut offer prices to guarantee sales before the holiday. Although manganese ore prices remain at relatively high levels, the first three weeks of this month made it the second-worst January of the last five years, in terms of price performance. Fastmarkets' 37% manganese ore index, fob Port Elizabeth, had declined 11.20% by January 18, compared with the last pricing session of...