Manganese demand is expected to grow 7% per year over the next five years according to Australian manganese producer Consolidated Minerals managing director Rod Baxter.

In a corporate file interview, Rod Baxter said world manganese prices had stabilized over the last six months as manganese ore and alloy stockpiles had normalised

"The landed price for our material has been stable for the last six months. Indeed, we have seen small price gains made during the September quarter," Rod Baxter said.

"This trend has continued into this current quarter for both ourselves and the other industry participants. Strong demand for manganese has continued from China, with increased activity from the Indian and Eastern European markets.

"However, with increased demand for iron ore and coal, especially from China, we have seen an increase in the cost of ocean freight, with freight rates increasing by some 40% in the last four months, which will impact on our FOB prices (returns) in the short term.

"The more recent increases in the CIF landed prices have offset some of the freight cost increases.

Rod Baxter says the future expectations for sales volume of its Woodie Woodie ore are looking good.

"Due to the very high quality of our ore and our central location to our customers, we are uniquely positioned to niche our product and maintain a fully sold position.

"This year's production guidance is 900,000 to 925,000 tonnes of manganese ore and we plan to increase production in the future in line with market demand growth.

"The company maintains a market diversification strategy with around 50% of our sales sold into China, 25% into Eastern Europe and the balance into the Middle East, India and other Asian countries," he said.