2008-2-15 Manganese ore suppliers raise the offer for the material

Some manganese ore suppliers raise the offer for manganese ore this week, and think the market is warming up slightly now.
A Shandong-based manganese ore trader raised the offer of Philippine manganese ore 40% from RMB70/dmtu ex ports to RMB75/dmtu (USD9.16/dmtu) ex ports on Wednesday. The source received some enquiries for the material this week and concluded a deal of 35% grade at RMB68/dmtu (USD8.31/dmtu) ex ports with a long-term ferromanganese smelter early this week.
"Because of the snowstorm in South China and power restriction policy, Chinese manganese alloy smelters are reluctant to purchase manganese ore in large quantity," said the source. "I believe the price of manganese ore will creep up in the coming days this month because of the strong demand from the market and higher cost for us to get the material.
A Tianjin-based manganese ore trader raised the offer of Australian manganese ore 45% from RMB87/dmtu (USD10.70/dmtu) ex ports to RMB91/dmtu (USD11.2/dmtu) ex ports early this week. The source reveals that he has received more enquiries these days and some deals are still under negotiation now. He thinks manganese ore market will boom late February because more smelters will return to the market by then.
"We raised the offer for the material on Wednesday in view of the high cost and some buyers still intend to get the material at RMB85/dmtu ex ports now. However, we will not sell the material below RMB88/dmtu ex ports for the time being."