Global manganese ore dispatches reached a new record of 42.93-million tonnes in 2020, the London Commodity Intelligence Bureau (LCIB) reports.

Shipments were 3.1% higher year-on-year.

Seaborne manganese ore imports to China reached 32.6-million tonnes, equivalent to a year-on-year increase of 2.15-million tonnes of ore.

Manganese ore prices increased in April and May, propelled by supply concerns arising from South African Covid-19-lockdown-imposed shipment disruptions.

Despite that, China’s upstream manganese prices have delivered a rather stable performance throughout the rest of the year, mostly ignoring boisterously rallying manganese ore deliveries, the LCIB states.

India was the only other importing region that managed to increase seaborne manganese ore intake in 2020. The total volume of ore delivered to India increased by 36.9% year-on-year to 3.49-million tonnes.

The East Asia and Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) witnessed a drop in manganese ore arrivals on slowing crude steel production, the LCIB notes. Manganese ore deliveries to East Asian alloy producers retreated to some 2.93-million tonnes in 2020, a drop of 22.2% year-on-year.

European and CIS deliveries in 2020 were 21.9% lower year-on-year, with the LCIB noting that European imports were affected to a greater extent while CIS smelters managed to restart procurements in the third quarter.

Among exporting regions, Gabon and South Africa managed to ramp up manganese production in 2020, increasing exports by 1.9-million and 2.06-million tonnes, respectively.

Australian exporters increased their total dispatches by about 550 000 t of ore in 2020.

In Ghana, the Ghana Manganese Company (GMC) witnessed the largest drop in shipments on a yearly basis owing to ongoing tensions between GMC and Ghana’s government in the first half of 2020.

In terms of the yearly totals, Australia’s South32 was the largest manganese ore exporting company globally. The company has managed to re-allocate lost South/East Asian volumes to India and thus to maintain yearly shipments in parity with 2019.