Manganese flakes market summary Nov 3-7

Manganese market sees no changes all through the week with the price lingering at around RMB10,500-11000/t (USD1,540-1,613/t) ex works. Most smelters are closed for the moment but due to the weak demand as a result of the whole economic recession, the downstream stainless steel market also keeps stagnant. Sources reported to Asian Metal that few deals are concluded during the period and most smelters still in operation just relies on contracts signed earlier.
Manganese smelters are generally out of the market now for no profits for them at all while the price stays at below RMB11,000/t (USD1,613/t) ex works. Some suppliers being pressed by the cash turnover while the financial situation in the global market is worsening, start to sell at prices of almost RMB10,000/t (USD1,466/t) ex works. Some participants even predict the price would go below that level as the future market would remain in the downturn. As most participants see, the current market slack would last for another three to four months, while the downstream stainless steel market would be dull in the coming one to two years.
Most buyers have already arranged enough materials for the production in the rest of the year and thus few deals have been reported since October. We learnt from the Customs that over 6,000t of the material is exported to Netherland, with another 5,000t to Japan and 4,000t to South Korean in Septemberr. And still there are small quantities of material delivered to foreign countries according to long term contracts. As a result, few foreign buyers are still in the market though the Chinese suppliers offer quite a low price of around USD2,100/t FOB. Some traders still in the market just purchase very few materials and they keep pressing the price down to around USD2,000/t FOB.
Manganese price in Rotterdam holds at around USD2,300-2,400/t and that offers from China slide to around USD2,100-2,200/t CIF Rotterdam though few deals are concluded during the period. There are still reports that some buyers fail to pay in time or try to renegotiate for lower prices.