[SMM Manganese Ore Weekly Review]Imported Ore Offers Decline, Demand Weak, Manganese Ore Fluctuates in Short Term

June 5 news:

North China ports: South African high-iron ore at 32-32.5 yuan/mtu, down WoW from last Friday; South African semi-carbonate at 37.8-38.3 yuan/mtu, down WoW from last Friday; Gabonese ore at 41.2-41.8 yuan/mtu, flat WoW from last Friday; 46% Australian lumps at 43.5-44 yuan/mtu, down WoW from last Friday; South African medium-iron ore at 38.5-39 yuan/mtu, down WoW from last Friday.

South China ports: South African high-iron ore at 34.9-35.4 yuan/mtu, down WoW from last Friday; South African semi-carbonate at 36.5-37 yuan/mtu, flat WoW from last Friday; Gabonese ore at 41.7-42.2 yuan/mtu, flat WoW from last Friday; 46% Australian lumps at 43.5-44 yuan/mtu, down WoW from last Friday; South African medium-iron ore at 38-38.5 yuan/mtu, down WoW from last Friday.

Cost support outside China has weakened and end-use demand is struggling to pick up. Domestic manganese ore spot cargo overall fluctuated downward, though the pace of decline slowed in the short term.

Supply side, South32’s July 2026 shipment offers for China were $4.85/mtu for South African semi-carbonate lumps and $5.25/mtu for Australian lumps, both down $0.15/mtu; Comilog’s July 2026 shipment offer for Gabonese lumps to China was $5.18/mtu, down $0.27/mtu. The downward shift in overseas miners’ pricing has driven port traders to lower their offers, with traders more willing to sell at discounts.

Demand side, SiMn futures are in the doldrums, with strong wait-and-see sentiment in the market, making it difficult to boost spot purchases. In the spot market, Inner Mongolia has seen some producers undertake production cuts and maintenance due to tight power supply, reducing their purchase willingness for manganese ore. In Ningxia, producers’ operating rates fluctuated relatively little, and producers maintained a certain level of ore buying interest. In south China, alloy producers are generally operating at low rates, mainly purchasing as needed on a rigid basis, with sluggish trading activity in the market. At present, SiMn enterprises mostly adopt a restocking based on rigid demand, small orders executed as they come, purchasing strategy, and post-holiday trading activity is soft, with deals mainly consisting of small, scattered orders, leaving actual manganese ore demand marginally weaker.

The overall market is in a tug-of-war between forward cost expectations and weak real demand, with short-term manganese ore prices moving sideways. Going forward, attention should be paid to the pace of downstream alloy producers’ production resumptions and port inventory digestion.