The Manganese/Chrome Ores & Ferro-Alloys Summit organized by the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) was held at Visakhapatnam on December 19-20, 2019.
In his welcome address, Sunil Duggal, President, FIMI, stressed on the importance of beneficiation of low grade ores with 7 manganese ore mines and 4 chromite ore mines shutting down by March 31, 2020, which will create raw material disruptions for steel manufacturers and the ferro alloys industry. The supply shortage is estimated to be 16% for manganese ore and 50% for chrome ore from the domestic market – a cause for serious concern.
With a sharp focus on infrastructure and domestic manufacturing, India has set an ambitious target of 300 million tonnes of crude steel production by 2030-31 which means increasing the present capacity by 2.11 times from 142 million tonnes to 300 million tonnes in the next 11 years. This would translate into requirement of 11 million tonnes of manganese ore and five million tonnes of chrome ore as per the National Steel Policy (NSP) 2017, Duggal said.
This can only be achieved when the manganese, chrome ore and ferro-alloys industry gear up and enhance output much before 2030. With abundant resources and the government’s plans in place, the Indian manganese/chrome ore and ferro-alloys sectors have immense potential.
Dwelling on the beneficiation of manganese ore, TK Pattnaik, Director, MOIL Ltd., said India only caters to 50% of the total requirement of manganese ore in the country and even if production is increased, the gap in domestic production and consumption is being increasingly met through imports.
He further highlighted that less than 40% of domestic manganese alloys are getting exported and countries like Malaysia and Georgia are posing stiff competition as these consumption in these countries is far less compared to production.
Starting the first session, CB Atulkar of MOIL pointed out that MOIL holds only 34% of Indian manganese reserves but contributes to 51% of total production in India. He also shared the future prospects of MOIL. The presentation briefly covered the exploration strategy of MOIL.
Devanshi Singh of CRU presented her views on manganese ore prices and future trends. Singh discussed about silico manganese prices and the oversupply situation. She said manganese ore port stocks have risen in China which has led to weak demand and slump in prices. Global manganese ore demand should recover from the first quarter of 2020, she said.
Amit Kumar Dubey of TATA Steel discussed about the technical aspects of manganese ore use in the ferro alloys industry and growth prospects of manganese ore in India.
Sam Mitra of Grace Natural Resources spoke at length on the market dynamics of manganese ore. He discussed the impact of China on the global market. He shared the total production for various major countries and showed that despite South Africa and Australia being the largest manganese ore producers, China and India dominate in production of manganese alloys.
Sanjay Agarwal of NML shared his precious insights and expertise on chrome ore. He said that the direct sintering technique is much suited for beneficiation of chrome ore. He said it would benefit in the conversion of fines to lumps.
Ravi Prakash of TATA Steel shed light on the current ferro chrome market and discussed the future prospects with respect to the chrome mines auctions. He said the extraction may take some time to be streamlined and in such a scenario ore buyers will be in a dilemma whether to buy from OMC or import chrome ore. He also shared his concern stating that a few producers may shift to other alloys as well for the short term.
LM Bagga of MMTC analysed the chrome ore market. He discussed the challenges faced by new lease holders like TS Alloys. He said the streamlining of operations may take some time and captive mine lease holders will also face challenges.
Amit Kumar of Mineral Enterprise Ltd said he believed that China and India would lead the ferro chrome and stainless steel markets but at a steady growth rate. He also stated that the recent proposed increase in the import duty on stainless steel products from 5% to 7.5% is likely to curb imports. He also stated that the tax on low grade chrome ore would enhance the beneficiation of such ore.
Consultant AVL Narasimham shared his views on ferro chrome production in India. He stated that the usage of anthracite as a reductant in ferro chrome production was one of the milestones India has achieved. He also suggested that a coherent production strategy like that of South Africa must be adapted.
Indranil Saha of TATA Steel presented insightful views on exploration details of manganese ore deposits in India and the practical challenges faced in deposit modelling. He also explained the reconnoiter exploration techniques for manganese ore.
Ashish Dash of FIMI spoke about the importance of sustainability in the mining industry. FIMI launched the Sustainable Mining Initiative (SMI) in 2009 and one of the company’s major milestones is that in 2011, the Supreme Court entrusted SMI to prepare the Reclamation & Rehabilitation Plans (R&R Plans) for ‘A’ and ‘B’ category mines in Karnataka in 2011 and to evaluate their production enhancement proposals.
He said that SMI is working proactively to take sustainability reviews and provide implementation support to small mines. The company’s efforts to mainstream sustainable mining was also discussed.
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