Jupiter sets manganese price at $4.10/dmtu for March

Manganese producer Jupiter Mines, which operates the Tshipi Borwa mine in South Africa, has announced the offering price for its 36.5% semi-carbonate lump at $4.10/dmtu for March shipments.

“There’s an appetite for $4.00/dmtu, but I’m seeing that it varies from customer to customer. It ranges from $3.95/dmtu and others accept $4.05/dmtu,” an industry official told McCloskey.

The official expects the global manganese market to remain stable due to limited activity during the upcoming Chinese Spring Festival. “The market will hold stable during the Spring festival but might start seeing a slight dip thereafter,” the source said.

“There is not going to be any property fundamentals before the festival. During the Spring festival, port stocks will possibly increase because there’s not going to be much movement from the ports in terms of portside transactions.”

Last week, the 36.5% manganese lump grade in China edged up to $4.00/dmtu, from $3.96/dmtu CIF China the previous week. This week, another South African manganese ore miner, United Manganese of Kalahari (UMK), announced the offering price for the equivalent 36% grade South African semi-carbonate lump at $4.00/dmtu CIF China for February shipments, an increase of $0.10/dmtu month-on-month.

“This is more supply-driven—as a result of the concentrational supply at the South African port,” said a market source. “Port stocks have come down nicely. Customers are observing that supply is still low for February as miners have not increased supply.”

The official noted that manganese exports in December from South Africa totaled 1.8 mt. “This is still on the lower end compared to 2.3 mt in the previous months (June-August). My view is that there is a little bit of hesitancy in terms of the actual demand side, and that could be putting a ceiling on further price increases,” the industry official added.

Another major local producer remains optimistic about market trends post-festival. “Good to see the market is turning from a pricing point and the rand’s depreciation further boosting the price uptick. We expect things to start picking up post the Chinese New Year,” the producer said.