Indian Manganese ore production for FY15 is expected at 2.24 MnT against production of 2.59 MnT in FY14, according to provisional data.
Production of Manganese ore in India declined slightly, owing to decrease in overall production with mining restrictions in Odisha & Jharkhand from May 2014.
According to SteelMint’s assessment, out of 2.24 MnT produced in FY15, 50% is produced by MOIL. In FY15, MOIL produced 1.15 MnT. From FY17, there is expected to be a huge jump in MOIL’s production. The company aims to produce 1.5 MnT in FY17 and 2 MnT by FY20.
Odisha Manganese Ore Production to fall by close to 40%
Odisha contributes about 14% of manganese ore produced in India. According to SteelMint’s assessment in FY15 Odisha is likely to produce 0.31 MnT down by 37% from FY14 during which, it had produced around 0.68 MnT. Supreme Court in its order on 16th May asked Odisha state government to temporary suspend operations at all those mines running under second deemed renewal. Total 9 running manganese mines were shut. However, on 25th March 2015, the Odisha High Court, hearing petitions filed by several miners, ordered state government to allow operations in mining shut for second deemed renewal, as per MMDR act. The major producers are Tata Steel, OM & M and Rungta Mines.
Imports likely to cross 3 MnT
India is the 2nd most important consumer of Manganese ore in the world behind China. In FY14 , India had imported 2.18 MnT of Manganese ore. In FY15 (April-December), total imports stand at 2.64 MnT, likely to cross 3 MnT. Since, China has reduced its buying significantly – having ample material stocked in its ports, India has gained greater importance in the Manganese Ore global trade. South Africa is the largest exporter of Manganese ore to India and the world, accounting for over 35% of Manganese ore exports globally. The Rand depreciating is allowing the South African miners to sell at very competitive rates to India. About 70% of our manganese ore imports have come from South Africa in FY15.
Other producers are private mining companies located in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, & Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka accounting to around 34% of total Manganese Ore production in India. India is the 6th largest producer of Manganese ore after China, South Africa, Australia, Gabon & Brazil. About one-fifth of the world’s Manganese ore are found in India.
Note: Data considered in this article is provisional data.
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