Recently, China's manganese sulphate market has exhibited an operating pattern of "rigid cost underpinning and diverging demand structure." Battery-grade and industrial-grade manganese sulphate performed slightly differently, but the overall market maintained a stable-to-strong trend.

Core raw material prices fluctuating at highs continued to push up production costs. Combined with steady demand release from the new energy sector, this provided strong support for manganese sulphate prices. Meanwhile, month-end capital tightening and production adjustments in some producing regions caused slight disturbances but did not alter the core logic of an overall strong market. Short-term prices are expected to mainly fluctuate upward.

Raw material side, dual cost pressures continued to transmit, serving as the core support for firm manganese sulphate prices.Manganese ore side, the tight global supply pattern remained unchanged. Major ex-China suppliers raised export quotations to China, and the landed cost of imported manganese ore in China rose significantly, driving domestic manganese ore prices to follow suit. As the core raw material for manganese sulphate production, rising manganese ore prices directly pushed up smelting costs. Sulphuric acid side, although prices retreated from highs after the previous surge, they remained in a historically high range. Cost pressure on manganese sulphate producers increased notably, and the willingness to hold prices firm was generally strong, forming a key resistance to price declines.

Supply side, industry operating rates were generally stable but showed structural divergence.Currently, China's manganese sulphate capacity is mainly concentrated in Guizhou, Guangxi and other producing regions. Top-tier enterprises maintained high operating rates, and under the produce-based-on-sales model, inventory stayed within a reasonable range, with relatively strong supply stability.

Demand side, as global EV and ESS penetration rates continued to rise, downstream ternary cathode precursor enterprises maintained high operating rates, and demand for battery-grade manganese sulphate continued to be released, serving as the core incremental demand driver.Industrial-grade manganese sulphate demand was relatively stable, mainly applied in traditional sectors such as coatings, textiles, and metallurgy. Month-end demand softened slightly, but overall fluctuations were relatively small, providing fundamental support to the market.

Price trend wise, quotations for different grades of manganese sulphate showed divergence.Battery-grade manganese sulphate quotations stayed at 7,450-7,650 yuan/mt, remaining firm supported by new energy demand. In terms of market transactions, battery-grade manganese sulphate saw higher trading activity than industrial-grade. Downstream enterprises mainly purchased as needed, while the industrial-grade market saw sluggish transactions due to weak traditional demand, with some enterprises offering slight concessions to recover funds.

Looking ahead, with the Labour Day holiday approaching, the market is expected to enter a pre-holiday wait-and-see period, and trading activity is expected to decline somewhat. However, the overall strong pattern of the manganese sulphate market is unlikely to change.Cost side, manganese ore and sulphuric acid prices are expected to fluctuate at highs in the short term, and rigid cost support remains solid. Demand side, new energy sector demand is positive in the long run, and the expansion pace of ternary cathode precursor enterprises continues, which is expected to keep driving battery-grade manganese sulphate demand growth, while industrial-grade demand is expected to gradually recover. In the short term, manganese sulphate prices are expected to mainly move sideways with an upward bias, and the price spread between battery-grade and industrial-grade products will remain stable. Going forward, close attention should be paid to raw material price fluctuations, changes in downstream ternary cathode precursor production utilization, and adjustments to environmental protection policies, as these factors will collectively influence the subsequent trend of the manganese sulphate market.