[SMM Manganese Ore Weekly Review] Overseas market broadly fell coupled with weak demand, and traders chose to sell at reduced prices.

July 31 News:

Northern ports: 46% Australian lumps 40.5-41 yuan/mtu, down WoW; South African semi-carbonate lumps 33.5-34 yuan/mtu, down WoW; Gabonese lumps 38.3-38.7 yuan/mtu, down WoW; South African high-iron 28.8-29.3 yuan/mtu, down WoW; South African medium-iron 36-36.5 yuan/mtu, flat WoW.

Southern ports: 46% Australian lumps 42.9-43.4 yuan/mtu, flat WoW; South African semi-carbonate lumps 36.5-37 yuan/mtu, down WoW; Gabonese lumps 41.1-41.6 yuan/mtu, up WoW; South African high-iron 31.2-31.7 yuan/mtu, down WoW; South African medium-iron 38-38.5 yuan/mtu, flat WoW.

Manganese ore market prices continued to grind lower, end-use demand was weak, and traders commonly discounted to sell.

Supply side , CML announced its September 2026 offers to China, with Mn>46%Fe<4%SiO2<18% Australian lumps quoted at $5.1/mtu, down $0.2/mtu MoM. South32’s offers to China for September 2026 shipment of South African semi-carbonate lumps were at $4.5/mtu (down 0.25), Australian lumps at $5/mtu (down 0.1). Comilog’s September 2026 shipment of Gabonese lumps was offered at $4.9/mtu (down 0.2). Currently, high-priced manganese ore inventory at ports was building up, with continuous arrivals of manganese ore, and most traders sold spot manganese ore at lower prices to secure shipments.

Demand side , silicon-manganese futures consolidated on a weak note, with strong wait-and-see sentiment in the market, making it difficult to boost spot procurement. In the spot market, alloy production was widely loss-making; operating rates in Inner Mongolia were relatively stable, with some maintenance and load reduction, but capacity release and blast furnace maintenance coexisted. Overall, there were few inquiries for manganese ore, and purchasing sentiment was mediocre. In Ningxia, production cuts were common, operating rates were low, and mills had low mining enthusiasm. In south China, alloy plants operated at the lowest rates, mainly purchasing as needed on a rigid basis, with sluggish trading atmosphere. At this stage, silicon-manganese enterprises mostly adopted a rigid restocking and small-order following procurement strategy, with weak trading activity in the traditional off-season, transactions dominated by sporadic small orders, and marginal weakening of actual demand for manganese ore.

Inventory side, inventory at Tianjin Port and Qinzhou Port built up, with manganese ore at relatively high levels, and high inventory suppressed price gains.

Currently, support from the cost side for ore prices at the bottom is weakening. Downstream alloy sector demand is sluggish and factories only restock based on rigid demand. Combined with high port inventories and basically no expectation of supply shortages, ore prices lack upward momentum. It is expected that port manganese ore prices will continue to grind lower in the short term.