Port Elizabeth Aug manganese exports likely to fall 20%

Monthly manganese ore exports from South Africa’s Port Elizabeth, the industry’s main export hub, are expected to drop by nearly 20% in August compared with the previous month, due to easing seaborne prices.

Port Elizabeth manganese exports were forecast at 963,950 t in August, down from July’s 1.2 mt, shipping sources told McCloskey during a trip to the terminal.

“So far, the bulk terminal currently has six open berths, which was not the case at the beginning of last month. Loads for August will start easing,” a shipping agent told McCloskey.

With Australia’s South32 GEMCO mine being out of the seaborne market since March, manganese export cargoes from Port Elizabeth have increased by nearly 10% as prices for semi carbonite material rallied as high as $5.55/dmtu FOB Port Elizabeth in mid-June.

However, poor demand from silico-manganese producers have caused a sharp drop in semi-carbonate prices over the past few weeks, falling to a three-month low of $3.38/dmtu FOB Port Elizabeth on Friday.

“I think South African ore is in oversupply,” Kudumane Manganese CEO Thembelani Gantsho said in a recent McCloskey webinar.

“Those that were not producing – given where the prices were in the beginning of the year – will probably go into care and maintenance again.”

The drop in prices was already impacting shipments with warehouses near the Port of Elizabeth reporting an easing of deliveries.

“When prices were high, we would get 250-300 trucks a day coming through a way bridge compared to an average of 80-100 trucks,” said a stockyard site manager.

“The mines will start loading less trucks. Currently, they are just refilling before some of them slow down as demand will also start slowing down,” he said.

During McCloskey’s port visit, a conveyor belt at the bulk ore terminal was delivering manganese ore to the docked Engiadina vessel.

While on the other side of the port at the break bulk terminal, New Destiny was preparing to load 15,000 t from a Northern Cape producer, while the Core Imperial vessel was almost done loading 40,000 t of manganese ore.