Aluminium alloying agent: China’s manganese ore imports moderately recuperate in August

In August, China's manganese ore imports slightly regained their pace after a steady downfall over the last three months. The General Administration of Customs (GACC) reported that the total volume increased by 1.4 per cent on a month-on-month scale to 2.52 million tonnes, a rise of 35,290 tonnes. This increase was due to the stable demand from local manganese alloy smelters, who continued to keep their production high.

Manganese has a very important usage in the aluminium alloying industry, as the metal strengthens the bond of any given compound, perfecting the components made out of standardised alloys. Aluminium alone is so easily bendable that for heavy-duty applications it is imperative to use alloying elements, and that is where manganese shines.

Total silicomanganese (SiMn) output among the 121 Chinese smelters under surveillance in August increased for a fourth consecutive month to 1.02 million tonnes, which is a new high since December 2013, and is higher by 25,254 tonnes or 2.5 per cent from July. It's important to note that the sampled smelters host 94 per cent of China's SiMn smelting capacity.

Silicon is another material immensely used in the formation of aluminium alloys. It helps in providing a better tensile strength coupled with extreme malleability. Aluminium is the second most readily available metals on the Earth’s crust while silicon is most abundantly found. The prices of China's SiMn also recovered in August, which improved the smelters' margins and encouraged the makers to keep output high.

As of August 31, the national price of 6517 SiMn was pictured at RMB 6,613 per tonne or US$906 per tonne, including the 13 per cent VAT, which is RMB 110 per tonne greater if compared with the end of July.

However, although China's manganese ore prices increased in the first half of last month as manganese alloy prices rose, the prices retreated in the second half of the month as more ore arrived at the major Chinese ports, lifting portside inventories. For example, the price of South Africa-origin 36.5% grade Mn ore at North China's Tianjin port was estimated at RMB 30.80 dry metric tonne unit, including the 13 per cent VAT as of August 31, unchanged from one month earlier but lower by RMB 0.40 dry metric tonne unit compared with that on August 16.

As of August 25, inventories of manganese ore at the major ports totalled 6.02 million tonnes, higher by 259,000 tonnes or 4.5 per cent on month. From January to August this year, China's total import volume of manganese ore reached 20.34 million tonnes, up by 1.16 million tonnes or 6 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to the GACC data.

Sourced from Steelmint