12th Rare Earth Summit

May 27-28, 2021
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

11th Aluminum Raw Materials Summit

May 20-21, 2021
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

9th Magnesium Summit

April 15-16, 2021
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

13th World InBiGeGa Forum

March 25-26, 2021
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

7th World Antimony Forum

June 13-14, 2019
Changsha, Hunan, China

7th Refractory & Abrasive Materials Summit 2019

May 23-24, 2019
Qingdao, Shandong, China

10th Aluminum Raw Materials Summit

May 16-17, 2019
Zhengzhou, Henan, China

11th Rare Earth Summit

May 9-10, 2019
Qingdao, Shandong, China

8th Magnesium Summit

April 11-12, 2019
Zhuhai, Guangdong, China

12th World InBiGeGa Forum

March 14-15, 2019
Zhuhai, Guangdong, China

6th World Manganese & Selenium Forum

May 21-22, 2018
Hainan Sanya, China

Interview with Qian Yu, General Manager of Hunan Yuanfeng Metal Co., Ltd

Hunan Yuanfeng Metal Co. , Ltd, was founded in July, 2007. It is a comprehensive company which specializes in producing and selling Electrolytic Manganese Metal, and has its own power of management in import and export trade.
The head office of the company is located in the centre of Chinese Manganese metropolis ——Jishou City, Hunan. Its subordinate factory is in Songtao County, Guizhou Province. The output of Electrolytic Manganese in this factory is over 20,000 tons per year. The company has two mines of Manganese Carbonate which extractive output is over 200,000 tons per year. The Manganese ore in this vein has an average grade of 20%-21%.
Qian Yu: With Manganese Market under Adjusting Price Tends to Rise
----Interview with Qian Yu, General Manager of Hunan Yuanfeng Metal Co., Ltd
Asian Metal: To begin with, thank you for the interview. Could you briefly introduce the manganese market in the first half of the year 2010?
Qian: In the past six months, the price of manganese remains low. And in the domestic market, sales of the manganese keep stable without ups and downs. On the other hand, the overseas market hasn’t recovered completely so that the demand is weak and the price is not satisfactory.
Asian metal: Up to now, a large number of manganese plants halted production and several large scale producers are reducing their output. What’s your opinion of this phenomenon?
Qian: The main reason is that the high cost caused the halting. For example, depreciation of equipment, loan interest, the increased power.
Asian: Your company is located in Guizhou province. What about the production? Is the output affected by these factors?
Qian: Yes, our plant is in Guizhou. Fortunately, our production remains normal. We haven’t cut the production. 60t or so are produced a day and the monthly production reaches nearly 2000t.
Asian metal: what do you think of the current supply?
Qian: many plants in Hunan and Guangxi provinces have halted and few are available. Therefore, the manganese price rises to some extent.
Asian Metal: what about the production cost of manganese?
Qian: The cost is affected by many factors such as the power, mine. So the cost varies from plants to plants. Now, the electricity price in Hunan province is relatively high. The production cost is in the range of RMB14,000-14,500/t ex works.
Asian Metal: The government has cancelled the preferential price in rainy season and increases the power price in Hunan, and Guangxi etc. However, the policy of preferential power price still exists in Guizhou, and as for the difference, how do you think?
Qian: Actually smelters have not received the final notice of the power price increasing. We usually pay the power in advance, and if the preferential price exists, the government will return the surplus part. I have to say that the price is relatively high for smelters.
Asian Metal: how about the demand of manganese at present?
Qian: The manganese market is mainly up to the stainless steel market. Though some steel mills regularly buy materials, they still hold some problems, like the surplus capacity and large quantity of stocks, etc, so the manganese market keeps inactive. In addition, while the operating rate of manganese smelters is low, the current supply and the demand balance.
Asian Metal: It is said that some stainless steel mills have been out of production or reduced production, and what is your outlook about the stainless steel market?
Qian: The stainless steel market is making good use of their stocks, so the demand for manganese does not rebound at once. According to some national macroscopic readjustment and control policy, we can see that the market is not optimistic.
Asian Metal: Is it related to the current policy of the real estate?
Qian: Yes, of course. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology forbids those stainless steel mills with very low capacity, which does not affect the manganese smelters who own mines, so those small sized manganese smelters have to halt production. However, they start to resume again when the manganese price rebounds. We call on that the government should strengthen the manganese market control.
Asian Metal: How about the export situation in your company? Please comment on the current export market of manganese briefly.
Qian: We seldom do export business. The whole export environmental is bad and stays unstable. The demand is much lower than before, and foreign steel mills are decreasing production with large stocks on hand. We think the proper export price is about USD2,850/t FOB China, but the real concluded price is much lower than that, so we are reluctant to make an export deal.
Asian Metal: The export rebate of 5% of manganese briquette has been cancelled since July 15, so how do you think the tax rebate? Will it influence the manganese flake export market?
Qian: It will absolutely affect the manganese flake market, and I think it is beneficial to the manganese flake market.
Asian Metal: What is the expectation of the future market in the second half of the year?
Qian: Current manganese flake price has hit the bottom of the production cost, and will be on the rise in the second half of the year. Generally speaking, the demand from the steel mills will increase gradually, so we are confident about the future market.
Asian Metal: Thank you for accepting our interview and your support to Asian Metal again.
Qian: Thank you.