Australia exported 4 million tons of manganese ore in CY 2008
Exported 2.2 Million Tons For China, Unit Price Was US$446.03 / Ton On Average
According to the statistics released in Australia, the total quantity of manganese ore exported from Australia in the calendar year (January – December) of 2008 came to 4,002,000 tons, having decreased by 17.9% compared with that (4,871,000 tons) in the preceding year of 2007. However, reflecting the steeply risen price of manganese ore in the international market, the unit price of manganese ore averaged on exports in 2008 was US$446.03 per metric ton, which had a considerable rise of 3.56 times compared to that (US$125.09) in 2007.
The quantities of manganese ore exported from Australia to main destinations in the calendar year of 2008 were <> for China : 2,223,000 tons, having shared 55.5% of the whole export, at US$382.82 per ton on average, and, then, <> for Japan : 398,000 tons, <> for South Korea : 377,000 tons and <> for Ukraine : 319,000 tons. For a reference, according to the customs-statistics released in China, this country imported 2,306,000 tons of manganese ore from Australia in 2008 and, according to the statistics released in Japan, the quantity of manganese ore imported from Australia into Japan in 2008 was 354,000 tons. By taking into consideration of time-lag, these quantities of Australian manganese ore imported by China and Japan in 2008 were coherent to those recorded on the statistics released in Australia.
In 2008, Australia exported 3,069,000 tons of manganese ore from Northern Territory and 823,000 tons from Western Australia, both of which are main sources to export manganese ore from Australia. Groote Eylandt Mine (BHP Billiton) and Bootu Creek Mine (OM Holdings) have existed in Northern Territory and, according to the report by these two mines, the former produced 3,316,000 tons of manganese ore in 2008 and the latter produced 672,000 tons in 2008. BHP Billiton has been operating the plant to produce manganese ferro-alloys in Tasmania Province (produced 272,000 tons in 2008) and, therefore, this plant consumes approximately 500,000 tons per annum of manganese ore for production of manganese ferro-alloys.
As regards grade of manganese ore produced in Australia, Groote Eylandt Mine produces high and medium grade ores, containing 44 – 48% Mn, and Bootu Creek Mine produces medium grade ore, containing 42 – 43% Mn. OM Holdings has possessed the plant in China to produce manganese ferro-alloys and, accordingly, has been supplying part of manganese ore to this Chinese plant (with annual capacity of 45,000 tons).
A major manganese mine in Western Australia is Consolidated Minerals Ltd. (CML), which has the capacity to produce one million tons per annum of manganese ore, but their actual output of manganese ore in 2008 came to a scale of 800,000 tons. CML traditionally exports a majority of manganese ore for China and Ukraine. – TEX Report |
