June 26 -
North China ports: South African high-iron at 30.8-31.7 yuan/mtu, down WoW; South African semi-carbonate at 37.2-37.7 yuan/mtu, down WoW; Gabonese at 40.6-41 yuan/mtu, flat WoW; 46% Australian lumps at 43.3-43.8 yuan/mtu, flat WoW; South African medium-iron at 37-37.5 yuan/mtu, down WoW.
South China ports: South African high-iron at 34-34.5 yuan/mtu, down WoW; South African semi-carbonate at 36.5-37 yuan/mtu, flat WoW; Gabonese at 41-41.5 yuan/mtu, flat WoW; 46% Australian lumps at 43.5-44 yuan/mtu, flat WoW; South African medium-iron at 37-37.5 yuan/mtu, flat WoW.
The manganese ore market remained steady in a stalemate, with sluggish end-use demand and prevailing wait-and-see sentiment among buyers and sellers.
Supply side, South32, Comilog, Jupiter, NMT, and UMK all lowered their manganese ore offers for China-bound shipments in July 2026. Currently, with high-priced manganese ore arriving at ports, traders' willingness to lower prices eased, port spot cargoes were under pressure, and ore miners still held prices firm.
Demand side, SiMn futures were in the doldrums, market wait-and-see sentiment was strong, failing to boost spot purchases. In the spot market, Inner Mongolia saw both capacity releases and blast furnace maintenance, leading to subdued manganese ore purchasing willingness. In Ningxia, producers' operating rates fluctuated relatively little, so they maintained a certain level of purchasing interest. Alloy plants in south China generally operated at low rates, mainly buying on a rigid as-needed basis, with sluggish trading activity. At present, SiMn producers mostly adopted a purchasing strategy of restocking for rigid demand and purchasing small lots at market prices, with post-holiday market activity remaining weak, deals dominated by sporadic small lots, and actual manganese ore demand marginally weakening.
Inventory side, Tianjin port and Qinzhou port experienced inventory buildup, with manganese ore inventory at relatively high levels, high inventory suppressing price gains.
Currently, the cost side provides relatively solid support to ore price bottoms, but downstream alloy demand is weak and plants only restock as needed, limiting the upside room for ore prices. It is expected that in the short term, port manganese ore prices will move sideways within a narrow range supported by high costs, with a stagnant trend, and both upside and downside room will be limited.
