Posted on 22 Jul 2022
China's total manganese ore imports posted an on-year fall of 1.77 million tonnes or 11.2% for the first half of 2022 to reach 14.1 million tonnes, according to new data released by the country's General Administration of Customs (GACC).
For June alone, China imported 2.37 million tonnes of manganese ore, higher by 121,412 tonnes or 5.4% from the prior month, the data showed.
"Shipments of manganese ore from Australia and South Africa recovered somewhat, lifting the arrivals of this ore at China's major ports last month," a market source in Shanghai explained.
Domestic manganese ore prices strengthened in the first half of June, thanks to replenishment by manganese alloy smelters, while prices lost ground in the second half with the weakness of silicomanganese prices, Mysteel Global learned.
As of June 30, the price of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade Mn ore at North China's Tianjin port was assessed at Yuan 41.3/dmtu ($6.1/dmtu) including the 13% VAT, higher by Yuan 0.5/dmtu from the end of May, according to Mysteel's data. The price had retreated by Yuan 3.5/dmtu from the recent high of Yuan 44.8/dmtu on June 15, however.
Chinese SiMn prices weakened continuously last month, with the national price of 6517 grade SiMn under Mysteel's assessment sliding to Yuan 7,928/tonne EXW and including the 13% VAT as of June 30, lower by another Yuan 254/t from one month earlier.
The steady decrease in SiMn prices persuaded more domestic smelters in major production bases such as North China's Inner Mongolia and Northwest China's Ningxia to slow their pace of smelting or halt production, given their deepening losses on sales of ferroalloys. Consequently, their demand for manganese ore declined accordingly, which also placed some pressure on the manganese ore market, Mysteel Global noted.
Last month, total SiMn output among 121 Chinese smelters under Mysteel's tracking declined for the third successive month by another 47,480 tonnes or 5.4% on month to a four-month low of 835,820 tonnes. Daily SiMn output among the surveyed smelters came in at 27,860 tonnes/day on average, lower by 634 t/d from that for May. The 121 sampled smelters host almost all of the country's SiMn smelting capacity, as reported.
Source:Mysteel Global
