Manganese ore offers of overseas miners rose MoM, ore prices remain firm [SMM Manganese Ore Daily Report]

December 16 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; Gabon 42.9-43.5 yuan/mtu, up 1.41% WoW; Australian lumps 43.4-43.9 yuan/mtu, up 4.30% WoW; South African medium-iron 36.9-37.4 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 36-36.7 yuan/mtu, down 2.68% WoW; Gabon 41.1-42 yuan/mtu, flat WoW; Australian lumps 41.5-42.2 yuan/mtu, up 1.21% WoW; South African medium-iron 37.1-37.6 yuan/mtu, up 1.32% WoW.

Supply side, overseas manganese mines successively announced offers this week, all up 0.05 yuan WoW. NMT announced its manganese ore shipment offers to China for January 2026: Mn36% (min) South African semi-carbonate lumps at $4.15/mtu; UMK announced its January 2026 manganese ore price to China for South African semi-carbonate lumps at $4.15/mtu. Cost support for China's imported manganese ore strengthened, leaving little room for ore prices to pull back.

Demand side, purchase performance for manganese ore diverged between the north and south markets. In the north market, driven by bullish sentiment in the manganese ore market and expectations of production capacity coming online in the Inner Mongolia SiMn production hub later, SiMn plants showed active willingness to purchase manganese ore, with active inquiries at ports, leading to higher transaction prices. The south SiMn market maintained low operating rates, with some enterprises cutting production during the off-season. Southern alloy plants mainly purchased on-demand. Combined with inventory buildup at Qinzhou port, overall demand in the southern manganese ore market was somewhat cushioned, resulting in a mild price increase.

Overall, firm manganese ore offers on the supply side raised the direct cost of China's imported manganese ore. Manganese ore traders showed low willingness to sell at low prices, keeping ore prices firm. The duration of this firmness still depends on demand absorption from downstream alloy plants.