About manganese

Details: Published: Thursday, 06 December 2018 11:45

Manganese ore is a critical and irreplaceable element use in carbon steel production. It is mainly used as an alloying agent that increases both the strength and flexibility of steel. The end users of steel include the construction, transportation and machinery industries, as well as producers of white goods and other products made from flat steel.

The construction market represents approximately 51% of the world’s steel consumption with demand, in the medium- to long-term remaining robust from China and India in particular.The entire world’s population is expected to increase and urban areas are expected to accommodate 66% of the world’s population by 2050, up from 55% in 2017 (and 30% in 1950). Population growth, urbanisation, economic development and rising consumer spending are therefore the key drivers of steel demand.

Other applications of manganese include aluminium alloys, clean energy (used in oxide form in dry cell batteries), electronic components and chemicals (potassium permanganate) such as fertilisers, animal feed, pigments and fungicides.

Clean energy applications, including the growing use of nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries, as well as the introduction of the lithium manganese dioxide battery, for electric vehicles, are expected to contribute to future manganese consumption.

With a lack of satisfactory substitutes for the major applications of manganese ore and there being no manganese recoverable from scrap metal, manganese is a critical metal whose demand is likely to grow.

How much steel is required for urbanising and building cities?*

Urbanise China**

~7 000Mt

Build New York City

~80Mt

Build Golden Gate Bridge

~0.1Mt

Build the BurjKhalifa

~0.1Mt

* High-level estimates
** From 2000-2017 (urbanisation from 36% in 2000 to 58% in 2017), steel demand in all end-uses