Manganese ore prices at Chinese ports rose markedly in the week to Friday October 15 amid an improved demand outlook and easing production headwinds in some major alloy-producing regions.
The price differential between low-grade and high-grade manganese ore grew to 8.50 yuan ($1.32) per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on Friday, the widest since Fastmarkets started assessing the markets in January 2019.
Suppliers have been attempting to push up portside prices with higher offers since mid-August amid a soaring silico-manganese market, the main consumer of manganese ore. But they have also battled against ample supply, stagnant demand and
rising storage costs.
Fastmarkets'
manganese ore port index, base 37% Mn, range 35-39%, fot Tianjin registered a steady rise over the past two months, to 34.60 yuan per dmtu on October 8 from 33.30 yuan per dmtu on August 9.
On Friday, the index jumped by 4.3% week on week to 36.10 yuan per dmtu.
Similarly, Fastmarkets' manganese ore port index, base 44% Mn, range 42-48%, fot Tianjin, China gained 5.34% from 39.30 yuan...