Manganese: Characteristics
Grade, iron ratio and phosphorus set the price
What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).Supply volume characteristics
| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current production volume | about 20 Mt Mn content in ore (2025e), up from 18.7 Mt in 2024 | South Africa mined 7.6 Mt Mn, Gabon 5.0 Mt, Ghana 2.0 Mt, Australia 1.6 Mt and India 0.79 Mt. Most ore is smelted into ferromanganese and silicomanganese for steel. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Inventory and stock levels | no exchange stocks; US stockpile listed 292 kt of metallurgical ore and 18 kt of HC ferromanganese for potential disposal (FY2025) | The main commercial buffer is ore at Chinese ports, tracked by price reporting agencies but not published in the sources used. Alloy stocks sit with smelters and steel mills. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Capacity utilisation | not published | No global mine or smelter utilisation figure is published in the sources used. Mine output is capped by South African rail and port capacity and by Eskom power for smelters; Australia's Groote Eylandt (GEMCO) restarted in May 2025 after a 2024 cyclone shutdown. | USGS MCS 2026; content_v2 |
| Geographic and producer concentration | South Africa 39.2%, top-3 69.3% (South Africa, Gabon, Australia), HHI 2,221 (2024) | Seaborne supply is far more concentrated: South Africa supplied 83.4% of ore export value in 2024. Leading companies include South32 (3.3 Mwmt attributable, FY2025), Eramet's Comilog (7.1 Mt ore, 2025) and Assmang. | World Mining Data 2026; UN Comtrade 2024; company reports via content_v2 |
| Supply elasticity | medium: existing mines can add volume within 1-2 years; logistics limit growth | Kalahari ore is plentiful (South Africa holds 550 Mt Mn of reserves) but rail and port capacity cap exports. Gabon and Ghana have added output quickly. Alloy smelters respond to power prices within months. | USGS MCS 2026; content_v2 supercycle |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | no large named greenfield project in the sources used | Growth comes from expansions in South Africa, Gabon and Ghana (Ghana rose from 1.28 Mt to 2.0 Mt Mn in 2025) and from high-purity manganese sulphate plants for batteries, mostly in China. Capital costs were not found. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Logistics and export flows | ore exports worth $3.7 billion (2024); South Africa 83.4%; China took 65.3% and India 16.4% of imports | Kalahari ore is railed to Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha), Saldanha, Durban and Richards Bay, and the rail network (Transnet) is the main bottleneck. India exported 48.2% of world ferromanganese by value (559 kt, $522 million). | UN Comtrade 2024 (HS 2602, 720211); content_v2; port names indicative |
Material characteristics Metal / hard commodity
Manganese is sold mainly as ore and as ferroalloys for steel, where it removes sulphur and oxygen and adds strength and toughness. Ore value depends on manganese grade, the Mn to Fe ratio and low phosphorus. Alloy value depends on Mn, carbon and silicon content. Battery and chemical uses need very high purity.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ore grade | benchmark indices for 44% Mn (high grade) and 37% Mn (semi-carbonate) ore; sedimentary ores 35-54% Mn | Prices are quoted per dry metric tonne unit of Mn, so grade directly sets value and smelter power use per tonne of alloy | content_v2 trading (Fastmarkets/CRU indices); USGS |
| Mn:Fe ratio and phosphorus | high Mn:Fe ratio preferred for HC ferromanganese; P typically below 0.1% (indicative) | Iron and phosphorus pass into the alloy; high-P ore makes brittle steel and is discounted | industry practice (indicative) |
| High-carbon ferromanganese | 74-82% Mn, up to about 7.5% C (ASTM A99 Grade A: 78-82% Mn) | The standard alloy for carbon steels; carbon content decides whether it can be used for low-carbon flat steel | ASTM A99; USGS MCS 2026 (74-95% Mn range) |
| Silicomanganese | about 65-68% Mn and 14-20% Si (ASTM A483 / IS 1470 grades) | Adds Mn and deoxidises with Si in one step; the most traded manganese alloy, with futures on the Zhengzhou exchange | ASTM A483; IS 1470 |
| Strengthening effect in steel | about 0.3-1.7% Mn in common and high-strength steels; 200-series stainless uses 5-10% Mn in place of nickel | Mn has no satisfactory substitute in steel and lets India's 200-series stainless cut nickel cost | Conway 2023; USGS MCS 2026; 200-series range indicative |
| Battery-grade purity | electrolytic manganese metal at least 99.7% Mn; high-purity manganese sulphate about 32% Mn with very low heavy metals | Cathode makers (NMC, LMFP) require tight impurity limits, which only a few, mostly Chinese, plants meet | industry specifications (indicative) |