Well, even though there is now an apparent glut of manganese,...

Well, even though there is now an apparent glut of manganese, (as was apparent with nickel not too long ago), consumers such as nippon steel apparently see some threat to supply. They are in talks with CVRD to develop joint projects.

China is a major exporter of manganese which is actually a proxy export of energy (like aluminium, manganese refining is energy intensive). Not real good when energy is becoming increasingly scarce - china may also be thinking they may be forced into doing something about greenhouse gases which would force up energy costs even more. So they are putting an added cost or tarrif on exports. This will drive up manganese prices.

Finally, as mentioned in the afr, the russians may make an offer for csm. There were also rumours of a takeover of a french manganese producer the other day.

Other than that, csm is an overvalued piece of cr.a.p.