MANGANESE (Data in thousand metric tons, gross weight, unless noted) Domestic Production and Use: Manganese ore containing 35% or more manganese was not produced domestically in 1995. Manganese ore was consumed mainly by about 15 firms with plants principally in the Eastern and Midwestern United States. The majority of ore consumption was related to steel production, directly in pig iron manufacture and indirectly through upgrading ore to ferroalloys and metal. Ore was used otherwise for such nonmetallurgical purposes as producing dry cell batteries, as an ingredient in plant fertilizers and animal feed, and as a colorant for brick. Leading identifiable end uses of manganese were construction, machinery, and transportation, which were estimated, on a revised basis, to be 23%, 14%, and 12%, respectively, of total manganese demand. Most of the rest went to a variety of other iron and steel applications. Value of domestic consumption was estimated from foreign trade data as about $400 million. Salient Statistics--United States:1/ 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995e/ Production, mine2/ -- -- -- -- -- Imports for consumption: Manganese ore 234 247 232 331 300 Ferromanganese 320 304 347 336 350 Silicomanganese3/ 258 257 316 273 300 Exports: Manganese ore 66 13 16 15 12 Ferromanganese 15 13 18 11 10 Shipments from Government stockpile excesses:4/ Manganese ore 173 425 254 134 120 Ferromanganese (67) (128) (1) 9 32 Consumption, reported:5/ Manganese ore 472 438 389 449 470 Ferromanganese 346 339 341 347 360 Consumption, apparent, manganese6/ 598 596 696 694 710 Price, average value, 46% to 48% Mn metallurgical ore, dollars per mtu cont. Mn, c.i.f. U.S. ports 3.72 3.25 2.60 2.40 2.40 Stocks, producer and consumer, yearend: Manganese ore 275 276 302 269 250 Ferromanganese 50 28 30 36 33 Net import reliance7/ as a percent of apparent consumption 100 100 100 100 100 Recycling: Scrap recovery specifically for manganese was negligible, but a significant amount was recycled through processing operations as a minor component of ferrous and nonferrous scrap and steel slag. Import Sources (1991-94): Manganese ore: Gabon, 62%; Australia, 18%; Brazil, 7%; Mexico, 7%; and other, 6%. Ferromanganese: South Africa, 33%; France, 25%; Brazil, 11%; Mexico, 9%; and other, 22%. Manganese contained in all manganese imports: South Africa, 25%; Gabon, 14%; France, 12%; Brazil, 11%; and other, 38%. Tariff: Item Number Most favored nation (MFN) Non-MFN8/ 12/31/95 12/31/95 Ore and concentrate 2602.00.0040/60 Free 2.2›/kg of contained Mn. Manganese dioxide 2820.10.0000 4.7% ad val. 25% ad val. High-carbon ferromanganese 7202.11.5000 1.5% ad val. 10.5% ad val. Silicomanganese 7202.30.0000 3.9% ad val. 23% ad val. Metal, unwrought 8111.00.4500 14% ad val. 20% ad val. Depletion Allowance: 22% (Domestic), 14% (Foreign). Government Stockpile: Committed inventories and disposals tabulated may include nonstockpile-grade material. The Defense Logistics Agency, U.S. Department of Defense, listed additional uncommitted inventories of nonstockpile-grade materials, as follows: 16,400 tons of natural battery ore, 81 tons of chemical ore, and 392,000 tons of metallurgical ore. The Government's disposal program extended to all types of ore plus electrolytic metal. Prepared by Thomas S. Jones, (703) 648-4973. MANGANESE Stockpile Status--9-30-95 Uncommitted Committed Authorized Disposals Material inventory inventory for disposal Jan.-Sept. 95 Battery: Natural ore 112 1 112 0.2 Synthetic dioxide 3 -- 3 -- Chemical ore 149 2 149 4 Metallurgical ore 888 188 888 25 Ferromanganese: High-carbon 965 -- 760 18 Medium-carbon 18 -- -- 2 Silicomanganese 2 -- -- -- Electrolytic metal 12 1 12 1 Events, Trends, and Issues: The price of metallurgical ore was unchanged, but, beginning late in the first quarter of 1995, a rising price trend developed for ferromanganese and silicomanganese. Domestic demand for manganese ferroalloys was strengthened by the greatest level of raw steel production since 1981. A large price increase for silicomanganese also was driven by an even greater price escalation for ferrosilicon and switching of foreign ferroalloy producers back to ferrochromium from silicomanganese. Antidumping actions taken in December 1994 promoted diversification of the U.S. silicomanganese supply. Manganese is an essential element for people, animals, and plants, but it can be harmful in excessive amounts. Thus, manganese can be an industrial poison, but is not a hazard generally. World Mine Production, Reserves, and Reserve Base:9/ Mine production Reserves Reserve base 1994 1995e/ United States -- -- -- -- Australia e/ 980 950 26,000 72,000 Brazil e/ 897 820 21,000 56,000 China e/ 1,180 1,180 40,000 100,000 Gabon e/ 663 720 45,000 150,000 Georgia e/ 240 200 7,000 49,000 India e/ 607 640 24,000 36,000 Mexico 112 120 4,000 9,000 South Africa e/ 1,210 1,300 370,000 4,000,000 Ukraine e/ 1,052 1,100 135,000 520,000 Other countries e/ 243 300 Small Small World total (rounded) e/ 7,190 7,300 680,000 5,000,000 World Resources: Land-based resources are large but irregularly distributed; those of the United States are very low grade and have potentially high extraction costs. South Africa and the Former Soviet Union (FSU) account for more than 80% of the world's identified resources; South Africa accounts for more than 80% of the total exclusive of China and the FSU. Substitutes: There is no satisfactory substitute for manganese in its major applications. e/Estimated. 1/Manganese content typically ranges from 35% to 54% for manganese ore and from 74% to 95% for ferromanganese. 2/Excludes insignificant quantities of low-grade manganiferous ore. 3/More nearly represents amount consumed than does reported consumption; internal evaluation indicates that reported consumption of silicomanganese is considerably understated. 4/Net quantity including effect of stockpile upgrading program. Data in parentheses denote increases in inventory. 5/Total manganese consumption cannot be approximated from consumption of manganese ore and ferromanganese because of the use of ore in making manganese ferroalloys and metal. 6/Thousand metric tons, manganese content. Based on estimates of average content for all significant components except imports, for which content is reported. 7/Defined as imports - exports + adjustments for Government and industry stock changes. 8/See Appendix B. 9/Thousand metric tons, manganese content. See Appendix C for definitions. Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 1996