Manganese prices rebound on supply worries

SHANGHAI, Apr 20 (SMM) – China’s manganese market saw a surprising rebound for the week ended Friday April 20 as traders stockpiled.

SMM assessed manganese in the domestic market at 11,400-11,500 yuan/mt ex-works, up 200 yuan/mt from a week ago.

The market was rattled on Wednesday April 18 when news broke that the ceo of China Huarong Asset Management was under investigation. China Huarong is the major financer of the country’s biggest manganese producer Tianyuan Manganese. Sellers then withheld from selling and increased their offers, SMM learned. Some even suspended sales despite stocking demand.

Separately, Baosteel concluded another manganese flake buy tender this week, suggesting bullish sentiment emerged.

We expect manganese to rise only slightly next week with more trading activity as supply is sufficient. Offers at high levels are likely to come back down as operating rates at manganese plants remain high.

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