NEW YORK — Medium- and low-carbon ferromanganese prices rose slightly this past week as suppliers, eager to raise tags from what some say are unsustainable levels in the face of a possible tightness in the market, are pushing their prices higher.

"Nobody’s bringing stuff in. Something might happen in the next 30 days," one supplier said.

"Prices have simply got to go up," a second supplier said.

Medium-carbon ferromanganese is now trading between 87 and 90 cents per pound compared with 85 to 90 cents previously, with two truckloads reportedly sold intertrade at the low end of the range this past week. Meanwhile, low-carbon ferromanganese is between 97 cents and $1 per pound vs. 96 cents to $1 per pound, with truckloads reportedly sold at 97 and 99 cents per pound.

Sources reported offering low-carbon product at more than $1 per pound this past week, although no sales have been made at those levels.

Dongbu Metal USA Inc., a subsidiary of South Korea’s Dongbu Metal Co. Ltd. and one of the largest suppliers of refined manganese alloys to the domestic market, said in October that it was reducing shipments of the material due to low prices (amm.com, Oct. 12).