Original title: Analysis of the current reserves and output status of in China's chromium ore in 2022, midstream demand continues to grow, and import dependence exceeds 90%. "Figure"
1. Overview of chromium ore industry
Currently, there are very few mineral species containing chromium elements on the earth, only about 0.03% in the crust globally, mainly in the form of oxide . The only chromium spinel minerals with economic value, chromite (chromium ore) is a general term for chromium spinel minerals.
is divided into metallurgical grade, chemical grade, and refractory grade according to industrial use. cast stone is a non-industrial use. At present, the major chromium ores in the world are mainly used in the steel fields such as stainless steel in the metallurgical grade.
Chromite classification and main uses
Source: compiled by Huajing Industry Research Institute
2. Overall policy background of the chromium industry
In 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Specification Conditions for the Construction of Chromium Compound Projects", which put forward requirements for the raw materials, energy consumption and product quality, environmental protection and clean production of chromium compound project construction . With the approval of the State Council, the tariffs on some steel products will be adjusted from May 1, 2021. Among them, a zero-import tentative tax rate is implemented for a series of steel products such as ferrochrome; the export tariffs for products such as ferrosilicon , ferrochrome, and high-purity pig iron will be appropriately increased, and the 25% export tentative tax rate, 20% export tentative tax rate, and 15% export tentative tax rate are implemented after adjustment.
chromium salt and ferrochromium related policies in recent years
Source: compiled by Huajing Industry Research Institute
3. Current status of chromium ore
1, reserves
1, global chromium ore resources are rich, mainly distributed in South Africa, Zimbabwe , Kazakhstan , Pakistan , Turkey and India. The total chromium ore reserves have been proven to be about 7.5 billion tons. Among them, South Africa has the largest resource volume, accounting for about half of the world's total resources, and is the world's largest exporter of chromium resources. Although Zimbabwe has abundant chromium ore reserves, its level of development is low, and it announced a ban in 2021. Kazakhstan's chromium ore is mostly used in domestic production and export volume is relatively low. my country's Tibet, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and other regions occupy the distribution of mineral deposits. The overall reserves of chromite ore in 2021 will be 3.0863 million tons (ores), with an external dependence of more than 90%. It mainly imports chromite from South Africa, Türkiye and other countries.
Changes in China's chromite reserves from 2020 to 2021
Source: Ministry of Natural Resources, compiled by Huajing Industry Research Institute
2, output
In 2020, the global chromite production reached 40 million tons, and the overall trend was stable and growing. Among them, South Africa's output was 16 million tons, Kazakhstan's output was 6.7 million tons, Turkey's output was 6.3 million tons, India's output was 4 million tons, and CR4 exceeded 80%. The domestic chromium ore resource deposits have small scale, scattered distribution, and poor development and utilization conditions; the reserves of poor ore and rich ore each account for roughly half; the small and easy-to-harvest chromium-rich ore have been mined. The main chromite ores include the Lobusha chromite in Tibet, the Dadaoerji chromite in Gansu, and the Saltohai chromite in Xinjiang. The output is also very low, with an import dependence of more than 90%. Data shows that my country's chromite ore production will be about 100,000 tons in 2021.
Distribution of the proportion of major chromite ores in the world in 2020
Source: USGS, compiled by Huajing Industry Research Institute
3, import and export
In terms of my country's chromite ore import, the overall reserve production of chromite ore in my country is relatively low, resulting in a high degree of import dependence, and the import volume is much higher than the export volume. 3. Data from the General Administration of Customs shows that from 2015 to 2021, my country's overall import volume of chromium ore sand and its concentrate remained 10-16 million tons. As the demand for downstream stainless steel and special steel continues to rise, the overall import volume is showing an upward trend year by year. The operating rate declined under the background of the epidemic from 2020 to 2021, and the price increased, resulting in a slight decline in overall imports. In 2021, my country's import volume and import amount of chromium ore sand and its concentrate were 14.9151 million tons and 2.607 billion US dollars, respectively, and the export volume and export volume were 74,000 tons and 04.6 million US dollars, respectively.
2015-August 2022 China's chromium ore sand and its concentrate import quantity and amount
Source: General Administration of Customs, compiled by Huajing Industry Research Institute
4, import source
In terms of the distribution of my country's chromium ore sources, South Africa is the world's largest chromium ore reserves and output, and is also an exporter of chromium ore. More than 80% of my country's chromium sand comes from South Africa. Data from the General Administration of Customs shows that in 2021, my country imported 11.994 million tons of chromium sand and its concentrates from South Africa, followed by 1.0319 million tons of Turkey and 635,200 tons of Zimbabwe, respectively. The top three account for more than 90% of the overall domestic import volume.
2021 China's main sources of ferrochrome sand and its concentrate imports
Source: General Administration of Customs, compiled by Huajing Industry Research Institute
IV. chrome ore competition pattern
Eurasian resources, Samanco, Glencore is the world's largest chrome ore manufacturer. The total production capacity of the three enterprises is nearly 15 million tons, accounting for 35% of the world. Currently, Chinese-funded enterprises China Steel and Minmetals invest in chromium ore resources in Africa, but the overall production capacity accounts for a small proportion. China Steel Group is the earliest company in China to invest in chromium ore. It currently has nearly 260 million tons of chromium ore resources in Africa, and China Minmetals Group has 236 million tons of chromium resources in South Africa.
Reservoirs and production capacity of major chromium ore enterprises in the world
Source: Public information sorting
5. Analysis of the overall status of the chromium industry chain
1, industrial chain
Cross ore is widely used in metallurgy, chemical, refractory materials and other industries as key raw materials such as stainless steel and special steel. The upstream is chromium ore, mainly from chromium ore and platinum tailings. It can be divided into metallurgical grade, chemical grade and refractory grade according to grade. The midstream includes the production and manufacturing of ferrochromium and chromium salt. The downstream is widely used, mainly including stainless steel, special steel , coatings and other applications.
Overall diagram of the chromium industry chain
Source: Public information sorting
2, application structure and current status
Among them, 90% of chromium ore is processed into ferrochromium alloys and used as raw materials for stainless steel and special steels. Among them, stainless steel is used the largest amount. In terms of subdividing metallurgical grade and chemical grade, metallurgical grade ferrochromium alloys are smelted into ferrochromium alloys and added to stainless steel, special steel and other steels, while chemical grade chromium ore is processed into dichromate, chromium oxides and chromium sulfate and other chromium salts, used in many industries such as pigments, coatings, leather, and new energy. About 5% of chromium ore is processed into chemical chromium salt, with a small usage and a small overall market size. The overall demand of the Chinese market is about 400,000-500,000 tons. In addition, chromium salt is in high pollution chemicals, and the government controls are stricter. The market concentration of is extremely high. As of the end of 2019, there were 9 chromium salt companies in China, with an average annual production capacity of about 55,000 tons. In recent years, the domestic industry has begun to accelerate integration. In 2021, Zhenhua Co., Ltd. completed the acquisition of Minfeng, with the production capacity increasing to 200,000 tons, the domestic production capacity is the first, and the international competitiveness has been further strengthened.5% chromium ore is used as the production of refractory materials, mainly used to make chromium bricks , chromium magnesium bricks and other special refractory materials.
overall application structure proportion of chromium ore
Source: compiled by Huajing Industry Research Institute
6. Domestic chromium ore development trend
Although my country's chromium ore resources are poor, it is the world's largest ferrochromium producer. In 2020, the total output of high-carbon ferrochromium is 569. 130,000 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 5.53% (total output in 2019 was 6.0245 million tons). In 2021, China's high-carbon ferrochromium production was 5.8856 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%; low-microcarbon ferrochromium production was 523,400 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 2.6%. At the same time, my country is also the world's largest chromium salt producer, accounting for 40% of the global total output. Under the background of stricter environmental protection policies, an oligopoly monopoly pattern has been initially formed. Under the background of continued growth in overall downstream demand, the dependence on chromium ore imports is too high, and changes in international relations may affect industrial supply to a certain extent in the future.
Original title: Analysis of the current status of China's chromium ore reserves and output in 2022, midstream demand continues to grow, and import dependence exceeds 90% "Picture"
Huajing Industry Research Institute conducted an in-depth analysis of the current development status of China's chromium ore industry, upstream and downstream industrial chains, competitive landscapes and key enterprises, to minimize corporate investment risks and operating costs and improve corporate competitiveness; and use a variety of data analysis technologies to predict the industry's development trends so that enterprises can seize the market opportunities in a timely manner; for more detailed content, please pay attention to the "2023-2028 China chromium ore Industry Market In-depth Analysis and Investment Strategy Consulting Report" published by Huajing Industry Research Institute.
