High-grade manganese ore prices edged lower on Friday December 29 as fresh customs data showed rising imports to China and silico-manganese futures prices looked weaker.
Metal Bulletin's 44% manganese ore index, cif Tianjin dropped 5 cents to $6.88 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu). Metal Bulletin's 37% manganese ore index, fob Port Elizabeth rolled over at $5.79 per dmtu, equivalent to $6.49 per dmtu, cif China. Port prices for both low and high-grade manganese ore weakened slightly week-on-week. Chinese manganese ore imports in November increased by 45% compared with October to 2.15 million tonnes, also up 51.30% year on year, according to Chinese customs data. Manganese ore prices have rallied in recent weeks, mainly driven by soaring futures prices on the Zhengzhou Commodities Exchange (ZCE) following government-imposed smelter shutdowns....