India: Bids display mixed trends at Sandur’s manganese ore auction

• • Nearly 71% of material receives bids in auction

• • Mn 30-32% ore attracts strongest buyer interest

On 29 December 2025, Sandur Manganese and Iron Ore (SMIORE) held an auction for 22,680 t of manganese ore, comprising both fines and lumps, with manganese grades ranging from 18% to 35% and particle sizes spanning from -10 mm to 100 mm.

The auction saw stable participation, with approximately 16,128 t, about 71% of the total volume on offer, successfully booked, while the remaining 6,552 t went unsold.

Key updates:

Bid levels show divergent trends m-o-m: Bids for manganese ore displayed mixed trends m-o-m in the auction concluded on 29 December. The weighted average bid for lumps with Mn 18-20% content settled at INR 2,725/t ($30/t), a 10% decline from the previous auction held on 28 November, where prices stood at INR 3,020/t ($34/t).

Similarly, bids for ore with Mn 30-32% content softened by 5% m-o-m, while prices for the Mn 32-34% grade eased marginally by 2% over the same period.

In contrast, bids for the Mn 26-28% grade strengthened, rising by 4% to close at INR 7,270/t ($81/t), while the Mn 28-30% grade also recorded a modest 2% m-o-m increase.

BigMint’s assessment for silico manganese (60-14) prices in Vizag remained largely stable m-o-m in December with a slight dip of 2%, to INR 69,300/t ($770/t) from INR 70,900/t ($788/t) in January. The slight downturn can be traced to a softening market environment.