India will require 11 million tonnes of manganese ore by 2030.

Morning Brief: Experts predict that by 2030, India's need for manganese ore could reach 11 million tonnes (mnt), in line with the country's 255 million tnt capacity for crude steel. However, the demand for manganese ore in India is probably going to pick up steam in the near future. During an engaging session at SteelMint's Engage 5.0 webinar series, recently held, Rajesh Pundlikrao Patil, General Manager, MOIL, and Sripal Jain, Chairman, Oswal Group Ltd., shared their insights on the key drivers of the manganese alloys markets.
The Indian government wants to be able to produce 300 million tonnes of crude steel by 2030. Based on prevailing market conditions, the output of crude steel is projected to attain 255 million tonnes by 2030. 11 million tonnes of manganese ore will be required to meet this enormous demand, which can be accomplished by both adding new and expanding the current capacities across the nation, according to Patil. An estimate of 8.5 million tonnes of manganese ore and 2 million tonnes of manganese alloys are currently needed, according to SteelMint (not including exports).

Presently, only about 3 million tonnes of manganese ore are produced domestically; imports are the only way to meet the remaining demand. However, India has large reserves of manganese ore that can be gradually increased in response to rising demand, so imports of the material will be significantly decreased in the future.

"India's manpower advantage implies that production of manganese alloys will not be significantly affected by competitors in the market such as Malaysia and other nations that offer lower energy prices but are hamstrung by high labour costs,"remarked Jain.