Steelmakers cut manganese purchasing prices in Aug tenders   

SHANGHAI, Aug 12 (SMM) – Top steel mills in China lowered their purchasing prices for steelmaking ingredients manganese in the latest tenders for August, as weak demand and excessive supply weighed on prices of the metal, an SMM survey found on Monday August 12. 

Baoshan Iron and Steel, also known as Baosteel, marked down its purchasing prices of manganese ingot, flake, and briquette by 850 yuan/mt from July’s tenders, to 13,350 yuan/mt, 13,000 yuan/mt, and 13,240 yuan/mt, respectively. Prices include taxes and transport costs.

China's biggest steelmaker Hebei Iron and Steel Group (HBIS Group) settled its purchasing prices for manganese ingot at 13,950 yuan/mt, and for manganese flake at 13,650 yuan/mt, both down 550 yuan/mt on the month. 

Another major steelmaker Maanshan Iron & Steel, or Masteel, slashed its purchasing prices for manganese flake by 918 yuan/mt from a month ago, to 12,930 yuan/mt in its August tender. 

Nanjing Iron & Steel (NISCO) in Jiangsu province set its purchasing prices for manganese ingot at 13,900 yuan/mt for August, down 500 yuan/mt from July, with a procurement volume of 1,800 mt, down 200 mt. 

South Korean steelmaker, Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO), also cut its manganese flake purchasing prices, to $1,859-1,868/mt on a cif basis in the tender for August. 

This was down $9-18/mt from the July tender, with procurement volume shrinking 95 mt to stand at 3,990 mt. Deliveries should be made before August 10. 

Domestic exporters expected even lower purchasing prices by POSCO in its tender for September.