[SMM Manganese Ore Weekly Review] Manganese Ore Market Temporarily Stabilizes at High Levels, Performance Diverges by Variety

December 12 news:

North China ports: South African high-iron 30-30.5 yuan/mtu, up 1.34% WoW; South African semi-carbonate 34-34.5 yuan/mtu, down 0.58% WoW; Gabonese lumps 41.9-43.5 yuan/mtu, up 2.61% WoW; Australian lumps 41-41.7 yuan/mtu, up 5.56% WoW; South African medium-iron 36.4-37.4 yuan/mtu, up 0.81% WoW.

South China ports: South African high-iron 30.3-30.8 yuan/mtu, down 1.61% WoW; South African semi-carbonate 36.4-37.3 yuan/mtu, down 1.34% WoW; Gabonese lumps 41.1-42 yuan/mtu, up 1.22% WoW; Australian lumps 41.5-42.2 yuan/mtu, up 2.45% WoW; South African medium-iron 37.1-37.6 yuan/mtu, down 1.32% WoW.

The manganese ore market continued its previous firm trend, with varied performance across different grades, among which transaction prices for high-grade manganese ore saw particularly notable increases.

Supply side, overseas manganese mines concentrated their offers this week. Jupiter announced its manganese ore shipment price to China for January 2026: Mn36.5% South African semi-carbonate lumps at $4.15/mtu (up 0.05); South32 offered South African semi-carbonate lumps for January 2026 shipment to China at $4.15/mtu (flat), Australian lumps at $4.85/mtu (up 0.3); Consolidated Minerals Limited (CML) announced its January 2026 offer to China, quoting Mn>46% Fe<6% SiO2<18% Australian lumps at $5/mtu, up $0.2/mtu MoM; Comilog set its January 2026 manganese ore shipment price for Gabonese lumps to China at $4.7/mtu (up 0.2). Traders held strong expectations for future manganese ore prices, especially for high-grade oxide ore, keeping their offers firm. Specifically, high-grade manganese oxide ore prices rose significantly this week. In contrast, South African manganese ore prices showed a fluctuating trend due to relatively stable supply.

Demand side, manganese ore purchasing performance diverged between the north and south markets. In the north, driven by bullish market sentiment and expectations of production commencement in the Inner Mongolia SiMn production hub later on, SiMn plants showed active purchasing sentiment for manganese ore, particularly enthusiastic for scarce resources like Australian and Gabonese lumps, pushing up their transaction prices and providing strong support for rigid manganese ore demand. The southern SiMn market, however, maintained low operating rates, with some enterprises cutting production during the off-season. Southern alloy plants primarily adopted an "on-demand purchasing" approach, creating a certain buffer for overall manganese ore market demand.

Overall, with firm offers from the supply side and rising market expectations, manganese ore prices increased significantly this week. However, it is worth noting that due to weak downstream demand, a few manganese ores have already shown a downward trend. Currently, the manganese ore market is operating at a high level with temporary stability, and the duration of this trend still depends on the demand from downstream alloy plants.