According to the local news report, the imported manganese inventory volume at the head of the ports in China declined continuously, and it declined to 5,585,000 tons at the end of last week. It hit its peak at 7,570,000 tons at the end of November and maintained a downward trend. It declines sharply after December.

 

China's imported manganese ore in November was 22,510,000 tons, down by 12.7% from the prior month. The imported volume classified by the major sources are as follows: South Africa 12,350,000 tons; Gabon 4,170,000 tons; Australia 3,840,000 tons; and Brazil 200,000 tons.

 

Market participants explained the reasons of decline as follows: (1) The imported volume from each country declined; (2) The demand for manganese class ferro-alloy in China hit its peak in October and pulled back; (3) Because the port head inventory exceeded 7,500,000 tons in November, users hesitated to purchase products; and (4) The imported ore volume from Ghana, which was averagely around 200,000 tons/ month so far, declines drastically.

 

China imported 5,006,000 tons of manganese ore from Ghana in the full year 2019. But because it was revealed that the mining companies exported ore, whose volume exceed the export limit, which was regulated by the Government of Ghana, it became an issue. Moreover, manganese ore is used for producing electrolytic manganese metal (EMM). EMM producer continues production restriction from June this year. As a result, the demand for manganese ore from Ghana also declined.