COVID Variant in South Africa May Disrupt Manganese Ore Supply

SHANGHAI, Dec 2 (SMM) - South Africa's lockdown has affected the global supply of manganese ore, as the Omicron variant was first detected in the country. South Africa has a variety of mineral resources, which will inevitably affect the mining activities. Cobalt, as the most affected resource, rose sharply yesterday.

While attention also needs to be paid to manganese. South Africa's manganese ore reserves rank first in the world, and it is the world's largest producer and exporter of manganese ore, accounting for nearly 50% of the global exports. China mainly imports manganese ore from South African. Earlier in the year, South Africa blocked the entire country due to the COVID, and manganese mines had to suspend the operations. The Omicron variant is potentially much more dangerous than before. Once there is news that manganese mining is suspended, the global supply chain will be affected without doubt.

According to SMM, the current inventory of manganese ore at ports in China is at a high level. Due to the recent poor terminal demand, the demand for manganese ore is relatively weak. Therefore, the pandemic in South African has relatively little impact on manganese ore supply in China so far. In addition, based on the current manganese ore inventory and demand, even if the COVID aggravates later and affects the export of manganese ore to China, the domestic manganese ore supply will be less impacted in a short period of time.