Electrolytic manganese market demand is strong, but industry development still faces challenges

Electrolytic manganese refers to the manganese salt obtained by acid leaching of manganese ore, and then sent to the electrolytic cell to electrolyze the elemental metal. Electrolytic manganese has a flaky appearance and becomes silver-gray after being processed into powder. Electrolytic manganese can be dissolved in dilute acid and can interact with elements such as halogen, sulfur, phosphorus, carbon, and silicon. Electrolysis is the main method of producing manganese metal, and its purity can reach over 99.7-99.9%, which can increase the strength, impact toughness, wear resistance and corrosion resistance of alloy materials.

According to the “2022-2027 Electrolytic Manganese Industry In-depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions Report released by the Industrial Research Center, electrolytic manganese The upstream of the industrial chain supplies raw materials, including manganese ore and manganese carbonate powder. Manganese ore is the core material for electrolytic manganese production. my country has abundant manganese ore resource reserves. However, in recent years, affected by factors such as national environmental protection policies and supply-side structural reforms, my country’s manganese ore production has declined, and China is highly dependent on imports. Insufficient supply of manganese ore has had a great impact on the electrolytic manganese industry. Coupled with factors such as power shortages, my country’s electrolytic manganese market is in short supply. According to statistics from the Electrolytic Manganese Innovation Alliance of the Manganese Industry Technical Committee, my country’s electrolytic manganese output reached 1.304 million tons in 2021, a year-on-year decrease of 13.1%.

In recent years, problems such as environmental pollution and high energy consumption of electrolytic manganese have become increasingly prominent in my country. Electrolytic manganese production mainly uses hydrometallurgical processes, which easily produce a large amount of industrial waste residue. For every 1.0 tons of electrolytic manganese produced, 8.0-10.0 tons of waste residue need to be discharged. Electrolytic manganese slag is a powdery solid waste with the appearance of black fine particles and high moisture content. It is an acidic filter residue and contains a large amount of harmful substances. When many companies process electrolytic manganese slag, they pile it up in special sites, which will increase environmental pressure, cause environmental pollution and harm human health. Clean production has become a top priority for the development of the electrolytic manganese industry. With the continuous improvement of processing technology, the environmental pollution problem of electrolytic manganese will be effectively controlled.

Electrolytic manganese is mainly used in food, metallurgy, aerospace, medicine, electronics, chemical industry and other fields. As the main application field of electrolytic manganese, steel is an industry with increasing prosperity. According to statistics from the National Development and Reform Commission, my country’s steel output in 2021 will be 1,336.67 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 0.6%. The increase in steel production has driven the growth of electrolytic manganese market demand. However, in the first half of 2022, affected by the epidemic and other factors, steel production has declined, which has hindered the rise in electrolytic manganese prices and accelerated the decline in transaction volume, posing challenges to the development of the industry.

Industry analysts said that thanks to the rapid economic development and the continuous improvement of production levels, the demand for electrolytic manganese applications is increasingly strong, and the industry has broad prospects for development. . my country’s electrolytic manganese is a high-pollution, high-energy-consuming, high-emission industry. Electrolytic manganese slag, as a solid waste, can easily cause environmental pollution, which has restricted the development of my country’s electrolytic manganese industry. Driven by green development, my country’s waste residue treatment technology continues to make breakthroughs and innovations, which will effectively solve my country’s electrolytic manganese environmental pollution and other problems.