Low price, weak demand idle China's manganese plants

More than 50 percent of China's manganese production capacity has been idled, as weak demand and plunging prices hit producers, industry officials said on Tuesday. "As steel mills have cut down on production, affecting demand for manganese, many small producers have been forced to close shop," said an analyst with Asian Metal. "Big producers are surviving, but many have cut down on production or undertaken equipment overhaul."
Prices of electricmanganese, used in steel production, have plunged nearly 45 percent in China in the past five months, to about 13,500 yuan ($1,973) a tonne, according to the Shanghai Non Ferrous Metals Trade Association. "Some producers have sold their stockpiles and will not come back in the next year or two," said Fu Li, vice president of Chongqing Trust-Glory New Metals Co, who estimated that more than 60 percent of manganese producers in the region had closed shop.