[SMM Weekly Manganese Ore Review] South32's overseas market offers rise, spot price edges up slightly

As of this Friday, in northern ports: Australian lump ore was priced at 40.2-40.7 yuan/mtu, up 1.25% WoW from last Friday; South African semi-carbonate ore was priced at 33.9-34.4 yuan/mtu, unchanged WoW from last Friday; Gabonese ore was priced at 39-39.8 yuan/mtu, up 2.60% WoW from last Friday; South African high-iron ore was priced at 29.4-29.7 yuan/mtu, up 0.34% WoW from last Friday; South African medium-iron ore was priced at 34.2-34.7 yuan/mtu, up 1.47% WoW from last Friday.

In southern ports: Australian lump ore was priced at 39.9-40.4 yuan/mtu, up 0.50% WoW from last Friday; South African semi-carbonate ore was priced at 34-34.5 yuan/mtu, unchanged WoW from last Friday; Gabonese ore was priced at 39.3-39.8 yuan/mtu, up 1.28% WoW from last Friday; South African high-iron ore was priced at 29.7-30.2 yuan/mtu, up 3.45% WoW from last Friday; South African medium-iron ore was priced at 34.6-35.1 yuan/mtu, up 1.75% WoW from last Friday.

In the overseas market, South32's offer for South African semi-carbonate lump ore with a September 2025 shipment date to China was $4.05/mtu (up $0.15), and the offer for Australian lump ore was $4.45/mtu (up $0.1). Coupled with the recent positive market sentiment in the domestic manganese ore market, miners' offers remained firm. Australian lump ore, Gabonese lump ore, South African high-iron ore, and South African medium-iron ore all saw varying degrees of increase.

Downstream, the SiMn spot market operated steadily, with SiMn futures fluctuating at highs. There was a limit-up today, and market sentiment was high. The acceptance of high-priced manganese ore improved, driving forward high-priced transactions of manganese ore. This week, SiMn plants maintained just-in-time procurement of manganese ore without significant stockpiling. There was still a mindset to drive down prices, and procurement remained cautious.

Overall, recent offers in the manganese ore market remained firm, but transaction negotiations continued. The future spot price of manganese ore should continue to be monitored for the impact of overseas market offers and domestic sentiment.