Seaborne low and high-grade manganese ore prices continued to fall in the week to Friday April 9 while market activity was light and sentiment continued to drop concurrent with pricing expectations among participants from both sell and buy sides failing to approach portside prices levels.
Fastmarkets' manganese ore index, 37% Mn, cif Tianjin was calculated at $4.49 per dmtu on Friday April 9, down by 2.6% or $0.12 from $4.61 per dmtu on Tuesday April 6.
Fastmarkets' corresponding index for manganese ore 37% Mn, fob Port Elizabeth moved down by $0.06 to $3.35 per dmtu on the same day, falling from $3.41 per dmtu on April 6.
Fastmarkets' index for manganese ore 44% Mn, cif Tianjin was $5.05 per dmtu on Friday, down by $0.22 (4.2%) from $5.27 per dmtu on April 6.
The pricing session - running from Wednesday April 7 to Friday April 9 - was shortened because of the Easter holiday, which lead to limited offers and purchases, Fastmarkets understands.
As a result, liquidity was low for both grades of material but a wide bid/offer spread developed, sources said.
"Expectations around prices...