China's imports of bauxite, the main ore source of aluminium and which has to be first refined into alumina, rose to a record high in the March quarter, due to greater demand and lower sea freight costs.

China’s imports of copper ore and concentrate increased about 14% to 2.03 million mt in April from a month earlier, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs released on Thursday.

China’s imports of aluminium scrap expanded in March, as secondary aluminium producers in the country rushed to fulfill backlogged orders after suspending production for more than a month due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Data from China customs showed that China imported 77,000 mt of aluminium scrap last month, down 39.1% from March 2019. That brought total imports in the first three months of 2020 to 199,000 mt, down 40.1% from the same period last year.

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.

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.

Last year, the Republic of Guinea, Australia, and Indonesia remained the top three bauxite exporters to China, with their combined volume accounting for over 94% of the China’s total bauxite imports

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

China imported 4.32 million mt of nickel ore and concentrate last month, down 27.91% from November

Muted trades in the spot market grew bearish sentiment about prices

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