Of the ‘forgotten’ battery chemicals and metals manganese is one of the better-known. Nonetheless, it rarely grabs the headlines of its cathode siblings – cobalt and nickel – as its cost component to the cathode is relatively low, but it remains a critical material for OEM’s ambitions for higher-range electric vehicles for markets across Western Europe and North America.
Manganese is one of the largest traded commodities with Benchmark’s Manganese Forecast showing 19 million tonnes of contained manganese ore production in 2019. Approximately 90% of the manganese market is used in the steel industry, with 10% or two . . .