China’s imports of Ghana manganese ore surged in 2017 as Chinese company Tianyuan Manganese expanded its mining capacity in Ghana after it acquired Consolidated Minerals in November 2016.

A total of 3.47 million mt of manganese ore from Ghana entered China last year, up 106% from 2017, showed data from the Customs.

Tianyuan Manganese achieved 800,000 mt/year of electrolytic manganese capacity by the end of 2016. This theoretically requires 3.2 million mt of manganese carbonate ores per year.

If production of electrolytic manganese at Tianyuan Manganese comes in at 670,000 mt a year, 2.6-2.7 million of manganese carbonate ores are required, standing lower than Ghana imports.

The gap between supply and consumption would allow Tianyuan Manganese to pour its Ghana manganese ores into the market.

Stocks of Ghana manganese ores currently stand at 200,000 mt at Qinzhou port, SMM learned.

Source: Metal.com