Hebei large steelmaker settles silico-manganese purchasing price at 8,950 yuan/mt in Dec tender

About 1.2 million mt of manganese ore production in South Africa is expected to be affected by the 21-day nationwide lockdown aimed at containing the coronavirus, a local trader estimates. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the three-week lockdown on Monday March 23, including closing mines, starting from midnight Thursday March 26.

China silico-manganese futures surged on Monday morning, as concerns about manganese ore supply grew after the major supplier—South Africa announced a raft of measures to slow the spread of coronavirus. The most active silico-manganese futures on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) for May delivery surged more than 3% to its highest in over three weeks at 6,298 yuan/mt in morning trade.

Prices of spot manganese have not received significant support from the resumption of downstream demand and have extended their slide this week. SMM expects the prices will remain weak with pressure from elevated inventories of #200 cold- and hot- rolled stainless steel.

Daily output of electrolytic manganese across the region is expected to recover to 100-200 mt in the early stage of the resumption

Average spot prices of electrolytic manganese in China’s main production areas fell 325 yuan/mt month the month in Nov

As of Jun 26, some producers hiked offers to 7,600 yuan/mt, ex-work in cash

Power cuts in Inner Mongolia are likely to disrupt supply and boost prices further

HBIS Group settled its purchasing price for 6517 materials at 7,600 yuan/mt, down 250 yuan/mt from Apr

SMM assessed prices of #6517 silicon-manganese alloy in Guangxi at 7,550-7,650 yuan/mt on acceptance on Apr 24

On Apr 8, #6517 silico-manganese alloy in Inner Mongolia offered at an average 7,700 yuan/mt ex-works on acceptance