The Dawn of EV, page-337

High port inventories holding down manganese ore prices in China
Manganese ore prices were under pressure from stubborn port inventories in China during the week ended Friday July 30, with buying sentiment further lowered by new cuts to alloy production to be imposed in the south of the country.
Almost all manganese alloy smelters in Ningxia province suspended their operations from July 27 due to reduced electricity supplies, market participants told Fastmarkets.
The south China province normally produces about 130,000-140,000 tonnes per month of silico-manganese, which is around 16% of total domestic output, they added.
“The current shutdown will last until August 2, but we expect [electricity] supply to remain tight throughout the whole of August,” one silico-manganese producer in Ningxia province said.
Although the expectation of tighter supplies of alloy products supported silico-manganese and ferro-manganese prices, the pause in production has stalled buying activity for manganese ore, weakening manganese ore.


China’s ferro-alloy markets remain strong amid supply tightness; prices set multi-year highs
Prices across China’s ferro-alloy markets, including ferro-chrome, silico-manganese, ferro-manganese and ferro-silicon, continued their upward momentum in the week ended Friday July 30, supported by supply tightness while major producing regions are affected by electricity restrictions.
Spot ferro-chrome prices led the rally among ferro-alloy products with a week-on-week gain of 11% after major stainless steel mills raised their August tender prices by 2,400 yuan ($371) per tonne from the previous month, to a level not seen in the past 13 years. Fastmarkets’ price assessment for ferro-chrome, spot, 6-8% C, basis 50% Cr, ddp China was 11,000-11,500 yuan per tonne on July 27, up by 1,000-1,200 yuan per tonne (10.84%) from 10,000-10,300 yuan per tonne a week earlier, and is now at its highest since October 2008. Similarly, manganese alloy markets strengthened primarily because of tighter supply, despite the negative impact on demand caused by planned production cuts among downstream steelmakers. Guangxi province implemented electricity limitations from July 27 to August 2 with an estimated 5-million-kw power deficit amid continuous summer heat and a shortfall of hydro power, wind power.