Shipping data shows total South African manganese ore exports exceeded 8.3 million tonnes in the first six months of 2018, up 17% from the same period in 2017.
The vast majority of the material was exported to China, coming in at over 5 million tonnes. Exports to India dropped to just under 700,000 tonnes. High ore prices have been deterring Indian buyers from the market because they cannot earn an adequate margin based on today's ore costs and manganese alloy prices. Silico-manganese prices, fob India have been under pressure since mid-April and had slumped to $1,070-1,090 per tonne by the end of June, compared with $1,200-1,250 per...