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China's imports of manganese ores and concentrates in January 2013 surged 98.9% year-on-year to 1.36 million mt, and also gained 18.8% on the month from 1.15 million mt in December 2012, the latest figures from the General Administration of Customs of China showed Tuesday.
In January, China also exported 15,582 mt of manganese ores and concentrates, a decline of just 0.04% from the 15,588 mt exported the same month the year before. But the total was up 3.6% from 15,039 mt exported in December 2012.
A manganese alloy producer source attributed the spike in manganese ore imports to bullish market expectation for alloy prices.
The source said some market participants were confident that the new political leadership in Beijing would roll out more pro-growth initiatives after the Chinese New Year which would boost steel consumption and raise the prices of manganese alloys and ore.