Manganese market in low demand in India
2009-02-06 10:01:18 【Print】
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 6 Feb 09 - Manganese market keeps quiet in India with no demand emerging recently. Sources reported to Asian Metal that though the supply is also a bit very low, but as no consumer is in the market, the participants are in no hurry to purchase from China, especially when they find the price too high at around USD2,700/t CIF Nevasheva.
An Indian trader who trades about 100t of manganese flakes told Asian Metal that the offer they received from China was around USD2,650-2,700/t FOB China, which they refused to accept. "The workable price should be around USD2,650/t CIF Nevasheva," said the source, reporting that the market before the second quarter is still in low expectation. "So we are not ready to enter the market."
The source claimed that due to the economic recession, the downstream stainless steel, housing and automobile industries are all stagnant. "Demand of manganese is very low and many participants only purchase from hand to mouth and would not consider of stocking any material." The source claimed that manganese price late this month would start to slide with the supply improving.
Another trader who is arranging about 50t of manganese metal told Asian Metal that they received some offers of slightly below USD2,650/t FOB China for manganese flakes and USD2,250-2,300/t FOB for manganese briquettes. "We think the price is still about USD50/t higher than our expectation," said the source, deciding to wait some while for better prices.
The source thinks the price from China is artificially high in view of the lasting economic recession. "Most stainless steel mills have cut production and demand of manganese metal slides greatly since the last quarter of last year." The source learnt that the price in Europe already has slid by about USD50-100/t when the Chinese returned from holiday.
