Jun 18:
North China ports: South African high-iron stood at 31.4-32.1 yuan/mtu, flat WoW from last Friday; South African semi-carbonate at 37.5-38 yuan/mtu, down WoW from last Friday; Gabonese lumps at 40.6-41 yuan/mtu, down WoW from last Friday; 46% Australian lumps at 43.3-43.8 yuan/mtu, down WoW from last Friday; and South African medium-iron at 37.5-38 yuan/mtu, flat WoW from last Friday.
South China ports: South African high-iron at 34.1-34.6 yuan/mtu, flat WoW from last Friday; South African semi-carbonate at 36.5-37 yuan/mtu, flat WoW from last Friday; Gabonese lumps at 41-41.5 yuan/mtu, down WoW from last Friday; 46% Australian lumps at 43.5-44 yuan/mtu, flat WoW from last Friday; and South African medium-iron at 37-37.5 yuan/mtu, flat WoW from last Friday.
The manganese ore market remained stable and in a stalemate, with weak end-use demand uptake and a dominant wait-and-see sentiment among buyers and sellers.
On the supply side, South32’s offers for July 2026 shipment to China: South African semi-carbonate lumps at $4.85/mtu, Australian lumps at $5.25/mt, both down $0.15/mtu; Comilog’s offers for July 2026 shipment to China: Gabonese lumps at $5.18/mtu, down $0.27/mtu. Jupiter’s offers for July 2026 shipment to China: Mn36.5% South African semi-carbonate lumps at $4.7/mtu, down $0.1/mtu. With the arrival of high-priced manganese ore at ports, traders’ sentiment to cut prices and sell weakened, port spot cargoes under pressure, while miners still maintain a mentality to hold prices firm.
On the demand side, SiMn futures fluctuated weakly, with strong market wait-and-see sentiment, making it difficult to boost spot purchases. In the spot market, Inner Mongolia saw both capacity release and blast furnace maintenance, resulting in lukewarm purchasing interest for manganese ore. In Ningxia, producers’ operating rates fluctuated relatively little, and they still maintained some buying appetite; alloy plants in south China generally operated at low rates and mainly purchased on a rigid as-needed basis, with sluggish market trading. Currently, SiMn enterprises mostly adopt a rigid restocking and small orders following the market purchasing strategy. After the holiday, market trading activity remained weak, with transactions dominated by scattered small orders, and actual demand for manganese ore weakened marginally.
On the inventory side, Tianjin port and Qinzhou port saw inventory buildup, with current manganese ore inventory at a relatively high level, high stocks capping price gains.
Currently, the cost side provides solid support to ore prices at the bottom, but downstream alloy demand is weak and mills only restock on a rigid basis, limiting the upside for ore prices. It is expected that in the short term, port manganese ore prices will maintain narrow fluctuations supported by high costs, trend sideways in a stalemate, with limited room both upward and downward.
