As of this Friday, SiMn 6517 (cash) in the north China market was at 5,600-5,650 yuan/mt, down WoW; in south China, SiMn 6517 (cash) was at 5,700-5,750 yuan/mt, flat from last Friday, and SiMn 6014 (cash) was at 5,350-5,450 yuan/mt, up WoW.
Recently, SiMn futures moved sideways in a weak, narrow range, with deeply pessimistic market sentiment, declining spot prices, and largely synchronized futures and spot prices.
Cost side: on the ore front, manganese ore spot prices continued to grind lower; on the electricity front, power costs in Guangxi and Guizhou stayed high with no expectation of decline, Yunnan entered the rainy season and saw lower electricity prices, while some areas in Inner Mongolia experienced power rationing during the light wind season, leading to slightly higher electricity prices.Amid these intertwined factors, overall SiMn production costs declined.
Supply side: operations in Inner Mongolia remained relatively stable, but most producers reported deep losses, with production cuts and load reductions, and capacity releases coexisting with blast furnace maintenance. In Ningxia, producers’ losses deepened and production cuts intensified. South China saw divergence: Yunnan alloy plants, boosted by lower electricity costs during the rainy season, experienced a relatively obvious decline in overall costs and increased operations, while the rest of south China maintained low operating rates, with limited selling opportunities and sluggish trading sentiment.Overall industry supply declined, and enterprises’ finished product inventories remained high. The high destocking pressure exerted some downward force on SiMn futures and spot prices in the near term.
Demand side: end-use consumption of alloys was sluggish, downstream procurement sentiment was generally weak, and steel mills and traders remained cautious about restocking, making it difficult to provide effective support to the SiMn market in the short term. Steel mill tenders proceeded, with HBIS’s first-round inquiry for SiMn in August 2026 at 5,800 yuan/mt, down significantly from the July booking price of 5,950 yuan/mt, reflecting strong push for lower prices. The SiMn procurement volume was 16,600 mt. The current first-round inquiry provided little boost to the market,and market participants awaited HBIS’s final pricing for direction, with selling sentiment remaining subdued.
Overall, current demand struggled to effectively lift prices, and producers widely fell into losses. Amid a loose supply-demand balance, SiMn prices are expected to consolidate on a subdued note in the near term, with future attention needed on supply-demand changes and futures fluctuations.
