In April, supply side, due to narrowing profit margins and intensified market competition, manganese salt factories in Guizhou entered maintenance and shutdown stages, with only factories in Guangxi maintaining normal production. Cost side, due to issues at manganese ore ports, miners maintained a high-price sales attitude, leading to an increase in manganese ore prices. Additionally, the price of sulfuric acid remained high, pushing up the cost support for high-purity manganese sulfate, resulting in manganese salt factories showing a willingness to maintain high prices. Demand side, downstream ternary cathode precursor producers maintained rigid procurement demand, with overall market demand showing a slight increase, driving up the planned production of manganese salt factories, and capacity began to be released, presenting a relatively optimistic outlook.
In May, supply side, manganese salt factories in Guizhou still had no production resumption plans, and some manganese salt factories in Guangxi also planned short-term maintenance shutdowns due to equipment upgrades, leading to a further decline in overall market supply. Cost side, issues at the South32 mine remained unresolved, with port inventories continuously decreasing, and miners maintained a high-price sales attitude, causing a significant increase in manganese ore prices, which in turn pushed up the cost of high-purity manganese sulfate again, raising its market price. Demand side, downstream ternary cathode precursor producers had a low acceptance of the high prices from upstream manganese salt factories and were skeptical about the ore supply situation, slowing down their procurement pace, mainly maintaining rigid demand procurement with weak stocking willingness.
In June, supply side, the profit margins for high-purity manganese sulfate producers remained narrow and were affected by rising raw material prices. Manganese salt factories generally adopted a schedule production based on sales model, with cautious production plans and inventory levels lower YoY. Demand side, the scheduled production of downstream ternary cathode precursor producers decreased, with weak demand, reduced market inquiries, and a cold spot trading atmosphere, with most companies executing long-term orders. Overall market sentiment gradually became more cautious, with pessimism starting to spread, and companies increased their focus on manganese ore price trends and the future development of the ternary market.
