South Africa: Manganese ore exports up 12% y-o-y in CY'21

South African manganese ore exports stood at 22.10 million tonnes (mnt) in CY'21, up by 12% y-o-y as against 19.66 mn t in CY'20. China, India and Singapore remained the largest importers of the material from South Africa last year.

Highlights -

• Exports to China down, India up: South African manganese ore exports to China went down by a marginal 1% y-o-y owing to reduced demand from the latter country following the government's restrictions on the production of manganese alloys and electricity usage last year. However, China continued to be the largest importer of manganese ore (Mn37%) from South Africa at 13.74 mn t in CY'21.
  On the other hand, exports to India surged due to improved demand for manganese alloys. South Africa exported around 3.34 mnt of manganese ore to India, a significant increase by 79% y-o-y in CY'21.
  
  
• Exports to Singapore up: Exports of the material to Singapore were up by 42% y-o-y to 0.83 mnt in CY'21 as against 0.59 mnt in CY'20. Improved manganese alloys production in Singapore led to an increased demand for manganese ore.
  
  

Silico manganese exports up, ferro manganese down

According to customs data maintained by SteelMint, South Africa's silico manganese exports rose 17% y-o-y to 129,324 t as against 110,882 t in CY'20. The United States (75,388 t) and Italy (25,419 t) were the largest buyers of South African silico manganese.

However, ferro manganese exports were down by 34% to 129,953 t y-o-y in CY'21, mainly because of decreased exports to European countries like Germany (by 20%), Austria (by 30%), and Italy (by 33%). However, exports to USA climbed by 17%, making it the largest importer.