Article by Peter Cranfield, WBMS consultant
Chart 1 shows chrome ore exports for the periods Jan-Sept in 2019 and 2018 in thousand metric tonnes (kt) gross weight. Total global exports increased by 11% from 11.4 million tonnes (Mt) to 12.7 Mt. South Africa is the largest producer and exporter. S. African exports increased by 16% from 9.4 to 10.8 Mt and accounted for 85% of global chromite exports. Turkey’s exports increased by 3%, from 1.04 to 1.08 Mt. Turkey accounted for 8% of global exports. Exports from Zimbabwe fell by 24% from 0.7 to 0.53 Mt and Zimbabwe was 4% of the global total. So these three countries accounted for 97% of global exports.
Chart 2 shows global imports of chromite ore for the same periods. Just as S. Africa totally dominates export trade, the same is true for China in imports, accounting for 86% of the global total. China’s imports increased by 3% to 11.4 Mt. Russia, the second largest importer, increased by 2% to 0.73 Mt. Indonesia’s imports increased by 50% to 0.39 Mt and accounted for 3% of the global total. So these three countries accounted for 95% of global imports. China is a major producer and user of ferrochrome. Total global imports were higher than reported exports in both years but the difference was smaller in the 2019 period amounting to 0.5 Mt.
Chart 3 shows global exports of ferrochrome in gross weight. Global exports increased by 2% from 5.3 to 5.4 Mt. There are three main players with respect to ferrochrome exports. South Africa accounted for 50% of global exports. The volume fell 3% to 2.7 Mt. Kazakhstan’s exports increased by 14% to 1.1 Mt and accounted for 21% global share. India’s exports increased by 7% to 0.65 Mt and were 12% of the global total. So these three countries accounted for nearly 75% of total exports. Finland, Russia and The Netherlands each accounted for around 4%. The first two are producers and the latter an important trading and shipping country. Others amounted to 6%.
Chart 4 shows global imports of ferrochrome in gross weight. Total imports of ferrochrome worldwide increased by 4% to 5.4 Mt. This is in line with the total exports for both periods, which is encouraging. As usual China is the key player in imports of raw materials with 2.3 Mt of ferrochrome or 43% of global imports. This was a substantial increase of 26% on the previous year to 2.3 Mt. It was also a large increase on the 35% share in the prior period. Japan accounted for 10% of total imports but the volume fell by 15% to 0.5 Mt. Indonesia’s imports increased by 50% to 0.5 Mt, also a 10% share. This is not surprising with the ramp-up in stainless production there towards the 3 Mt per annum recently installed slab capacity. S. Korea and USA each accounted for 8% of overall imports but were -8% and -22% respectively compared with the previous year. Belgium, Germany and others also had significant declines. In total these accounted for around 20% of the total imports.