Prices for low- and high-grade manganese ore in the seaborne markets still had support in the week to Friday June 18, against rising freight rates and steady portside markets.
Fastmarkets'
manganese ore index, 37% Mn, cif Tianjin, edged up by 1 cent per dry metric tonne unit to $4.72 per dmtu on Friday, from $4.71 per dmtu a week earlier.
Despite cif China manganese ore prices also being slightly higher on Friday,
high freight prices caused a sharp drop in Fastmarkets' calculation of the fob Port Elizabeth price, which is calculated by subtracting the cost of freight from the cif Tianjin price.
Fastmarkets' price assessment for
manganese ore, 37% Mn, fob Port Elizabeth, dropped by 21 cents per dmtu (6.12%) to $3.22 per dmtu on June 18, from $3.43 per dmtu the preceding week.
Freight quotes rose rapidly over the week to July 18, with traders reporting an unprecedented ramp-up.
"Wednesday [June 16] was a public holiday in South Africa, and then [the price] sky-rocketed," a market source told Fastmarkets.
The cause of this...