- What is manganese — a hard, brittle steel-alloying metal
- Steel production consumes roughly 90% of manganese output
- South Africa produces about 37% of global manganese
- China refines the largest share of manganese ferroalloys
- United States imports nearly all of its manganese supply
- South32 and Element 25 are building US battery-grade capacity
What is manganese? It is a hard, brittle, silvery-grey transition metal, symbol Mn, and the fourth most consumed metal by tonnage worldwide after iron, aluminium and copper. Despite the similar-sounding name, manganese is chemically unrelated to magnesium — the two are separate elements that happen to share a linguistic root in the ancient mineral “magnesia.”
What Is Manganese? Properties and Characteristics
Manganese is rarely found in a pure metallic state. It occurs mainly as the mineral pyrolusite (manganese dioxide) and is extracted through smelting or leaching processes rather than simple mining of the free metal. In its refined form it is brittle and difficult to work on its own, which is precisely why its main commercial role is as an alloying agent rather than a standalone structural metal. It has a melting point of around 1,246°C and forms compounds across an unusually wide range of oxidation states, from -3 to +7, which is part of why it is chemically useful in such varied industrial and battery applications.
The metal has no satisfactory substitute in its principal industrial applications, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Mineral Commodity Summaries. That lack of substitutability is a key reason manganese sits on critical minerals lists in the United States, European Union and elsewhere, despite being the twelfth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. Manganese is also an essential trace nutrient in human biology, though the volumes involved in nutrition are negligible next to its industrial consumption, and occupational exposure to manganese dust is separately regulated in steel and alloy production settings.
What Is Manganese Used For?
Around 90% of mined manganese goes into iron and steel production, where it acts as a deoxidiser and sulfur-fixing agent, and improves hardness and wear resistance. Ferromanganese and silicomanganese alloys are the primary intermediate products that carry manganese into steel mills. High-manganese steel, sometimes called Hadfield steel, is prized for extreme wear resistance and is widely used in rail track, mining and crushing equipment, and other high-impact industrial applications where standard steel would fail quickly.
The remaining demand splits mainly between battery chemistry and specialty alloys. High-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) is used in Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese (NCM) lithium-ion battery cathodes, and manganese is increasingly added to Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) cells to produce Lithium Manganese Iron Phosphate (LMFP), which raises energy density at a lower cost than nickel-heavy chemistries. Manganese dioxide also remains the standard cathode material in alkaline and zinc-carbon batteries, manganese-aluminium alloys are used in beverage cans for corrosion resistance, and manganese compounds are used in fertilisers, glass-making and industrial pigments.
Where Is Manganese Produced?
South Africa is the world’s largest manganese producer, accounting for roughly 37% of global output, with reserves concentrated in the Kalahari Manganese Field in the Northern Cape. South32 operates major manganese assets both there, at the Mamatwan and Wessels mines, and in Australia at the GEMCO operation on Groote Eylandt — making it one of the few companies with a foothold across two of the top producing regions. Gabon is the other dominant supplier, led by Eramet’s Comilog operation, and together with South Africa and Australia these three countries supply the large majority of the world’s manganese ore.
China does not lead in mining but dominates downstream refining, converting a large share of the world’s raw manganese ore into ferroalloys and battery-grade sulphate. Readers tracking the broader concentration of Chinese processing capacity across battery and industrial metals can see the pattern set out on CMN’s China critical minerals hub.
Manganese Price and Market
Manganese is typically priced on a per-tonne basis, tracking closely with global steel demand given that steelmaking absorbs the vast majority of supply. Battery-grade manganese sulphate trades as a distinct, higher-value product line reflecting its EV cathode application, and buyers should not assume ore-grade and battery-grade pricing move in lockstep. Current pricing, historical data and currency conversions are tracked on CMN’s manganese price page, updated monthly against SMM benchmark data.
Manganese Supply Chain Risks
The United States and Canada produce essentially no domestic manganese ore and are almost entirely import-dependent, a vulnerability the USGS classifies as an elevated supply risk. Import concentration compounds the exposure: the International Manganese Institute and USGS both point to Gabon and South Africa as the dominant source nations for U.S. manganese ore imports, leaving buyers exposed to disruption in a small number of supplying countries.
The refining bottleneck adds a second layer of risk. Even where ore is mined outside China, a substantial share is shipped there for conversion into ferroalloys and battery-grade sulphate, meaning geographic diversification of mining alone does not fully resolve supply chain concentration. The U.S. government has begun funding a domestic response: South32’s Hermosa project in Arizona has secured a US$20 million Department of Defense grant alongside a US$166 million Department of Energy award to develop what would be the first sustainable domestic source of battery-grade manganese, while Australia’s Element 25 has lined up General Motors and Stellantis as offtake partners for a planned high-purity manganese sulphate facility in Louisiana. Both projects remain in development rather than production, so the near-term supply picture is still dominated by the South Africa-Gabon-China axis. Broader context on how manganese fits within critical minerals policy and supply chain strategy is available on CMN’s critical minerals overview.
This article is for informational purposes only.
What is manganese and what is it used for?
Manganese is a hard, brittle transition metal used mainly as a steelmaking alloy, where it improves strength and wear resistance. It also serves as a cathode material in EV and alkaline batteries.
Why is manganese considered a critical mineral?
Manganese has no viable substitute in steel production and is subject to concentrated global supply, with most reserves and output centred in South Africa, Gabon, Australia and China. This combination of non-substitutability and supply concentration is why the US, EU and other governments classify it as critical.
Who produces the most manganese?
South Africa is the largest producer, supplying roughly 37% of global manganese, followed by Gabon, Australia and China.
What is the current manganese price?
Manganese prices move with global steel demand and are tracked on CMN’s dedicated manganese price page, updated monthly with current SMM benchmark data.
What are the main supply chain risks for manganese?
The United States and Canada have almost no domestic manganese production and rely on imports concentrated in a handful of countries. A large share of global refining capacity also sits in China, adding a processing bottleneck beyond the mining stage.
Does China control manganese supply?
China is not the leading miner of manganese ore but dominates downstream refining into ferroalloys and battery-grade manganese sulphate, giving it significant influence over the processed-material stage of the supply chain.
