Manganese ore prices edged higher on Friday February 19 due to soaring freight rates and a stronger rand pushing up production costs.
Manganese ore prices edged higher on Friday February 19 due to soaring freight rates and a stronger South African rand pushing up production costs, while stronger manganese alloy futures supported downstream sentiment.
Fastmarkets' manganese ore index 37% Mn, cif Tianjin rose by $0.03 week on week to $4.65 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on February 19, up from the week before.
Fastmarkets' manganese ore 37% Mn, fob Port Elizabeth index dropped by $0.17 week on week to $3.61 per dmtu on the same day.
The sudden drop reflects the rise in the average freight cost, which is deducted from the cif price to calculate the fob index.
Fastmarkets' manganese ore 44% Mn, cif Tianjin rose by just $0.01 week on week to $5.08 per dmtu on February 19.
The seaborne market remained given Chinese buyers had just returned from the week-long Lunar New...