LONDON (Metal-Pages) 08-Feb-11. World demand for manganese is forecast to exceed 21.9 million tonnes by 2015, with the key factors driving market growth to be increased demand from the steel and batteries sectors in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East markets, according to US-based industry analysts GIA (Global Industry Analysts).
The manganese market has been buoyant in the past decade driven on a robust expansion in a world infrastructure sector that has encouraged big-scale production of steel, the key manganese end-user, it said.
However, the recent turmoil in the world economy heavily impacted the manganese market and prices plummeted in 2008 and 2009. The troubled times forced several manganese producers to cut mining and processing operations and focus on implementing cost-cutting measures.
Nevertheless, the market has recovered in 2010 in line with the world economy andemand for manganese is poised to grow at a healthy pace on increasing demand for steel, mostly in the Asia-Pacific region, it said in its report this week.
Most of the world’s manganese resources are found in China, Australia, South Africa, Gabon, Brazil, India, Mexico, and former Soviet nations.
Asia-Pacific represents the biggest, as well as the fastest growing regional market for manganese, it said.
In 2009, China emerged as the biggest producer of manganese in the world.
However, most of the mineral produced in China is low grade and the country relies on imports of high grade manganese for much of its steel production.
Asia-Pacific manganese consumption is forecast to increase at a compounded annual rate of 7.9% in the coming years, it said. Europe represents the second major market. Alloys segment constitutes the biggest manganese product group, while among manganese alloys, ferro-manganese alloys and silico-manganese alloys account for most demand.
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