Seaborne prices of both low- and high-grade manganese ore in China were slightly lower in the week to Friday November 27, slowing an earlier downtrend prior to the release of miners' next offer prices and Hebei Steel's final purchase price for December-delivery silico-manganese, market sources told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets'
manganese ore index 37% Mn, cif Tianjin fell by 1 cent (0.3%), week on week to $3.71 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on Friday.
The
manganese ore index 44% Mn, cif Tianjin also dropped by 1 cent (0.2%) week on week to $4.05 per dmtu on the same day.
Meanwhile, Fastmarkets'
manganese ore index 37% Mn, fob Port Elizabeth slid by 4 cents (1.3%) week on week to $3.00 per dmtu on the same day.
Suppliers credited the slowdown in the price decline to healthy interest, with buyers seeing prices as being close to the bottom.
"We have had inquiries for huge volumes for January shipments," a producer said. "Inquiries are going through the roof, with buyers wanting to capitalize on the current prices because they view this as close to the bottom of the market."
"The steel...