SIC 1061 Ferroalloy Ores, Except Vanadium
SIC 1061
This category covers establishments primarily engaged in mining, milling, or otherwise preparing ferroalloy ores, except vanadium. The mining of manganiferous ores valued chiefly for their iron content is classified in SIC 1011: Iron Ores. Establishments primarily engaged in mining vanadium ore are classified in SIC 1094: Uranium-Radium-Vanadium Ores, and those mining titanium ore are classified in SIC 1099: Miscellaneous Metal Ores, Not Elsewhere Classified. The ferroalloy classification includes the following ores: chromite, chromium, cobalt, columbite, ferberite, huebnerite, manganese, manganite, molybdenite, molybdenum, molybdite, nickel, psilomelane, pyrolusite, rhodochrosite, scheelite, tantalite, tantalum, tungsten, wolframite, and wulfenite. While production and consumption of particular ores can vary as much as their names, industry-wide trends tend to influence ferroalloys as an overall group of ores serving related applications responding to similar market forces.
212234
Copper Ore and Nickel Ore Mining
212299
Other Metal Ore Mining
The ferroalloy industry is serviced by dozens of international mining companies, often with special subsidiaries responsible for specific alloys. As ferroalloys are primarily used in the production of steel, the state of worldwide steel production impacts that of the ferroalloy industry. Ferroalloys serve three main functions in steel: they help eliminate undesired elements such as oxygen and sulfur; they impart special characteristics, such as heat- and corrosion-resistance and strength; and they neutralize undesirable elements in the steel. The leading ferroalloy producers are China, South Africa, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Norway.
Starting in 1995, steel production began a decline that has affected prices and demand for many ferroalloys. By 1997 the steel market appeared to have settled down and prices were on the verge of rising, which in turn could have had a domino effect on the ferroalloys industries. However, the U.S. economic recession of the early 2000s pushed both specialty steel and stainless steel consumption down 17 percent in 2001, according to the Specialty Steel Industry of North America. U.S. ferroalloy production declined 10 percent in 2002. Exports declined 18 percent and imports increased 11 percent, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
From 1989 onward, ferroalloys underwent substantial market decline, largely spurred by a decline in steel production in the United States and other Western nations. Several economic factors placed continued strain on steel—repercussions from the oversupply and price boom of the late 1980s, a flood of exports from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and China, and the lingering effects of worldwide economic recession in the early 1990s. A glut of low-priced imports forced many ferroalloy companies, including world giants, to drastically reduce production and contend with losses and severely reduced profits. Moving into 1993, established market economy countries (EMEC) did not compensate for these factors with sufficient reduction of output, resulting in growing inventories and uncomfortably low commodity prices. From 1993 onward, stainless steel producers in the Western World experienced an annual growth of about 10 percent per year, forcing many to operate at full capacity. However, ferroalloy production forged ahead in anticipation of future demand a little too soon, causing a market flooded by ferroalloys.
By the mid-1990s, industry analysts anticipated a turnaround in the nonfuels minerals industry, particularly in metals. With modernized plants, lower operating costs, and more efficient workforces, producers were poised to capitalize on moderate economic expansion. Although forecasts for the late 1990s indicated increases in commercial building construction, infrastructure projects, and the motor vehicle industry, demand for many types of steel and, consequently, for ferroalloys remained low due to an unanticipated economic recession in the United States, which was worsened by the terrorist attacks of September 11.
Like mining in general, the ferroalloy industry is organized along the complex lines of worldwide consumption and supply, with different countries consuming different metals—in varying quantities—according to the demands of their industrial bases and capital goods markets. The London Metal Exchange (LME) served as the general barometer of price fluctuation in metals trading, reflecting the ever-shifting balance between world demand and supply of those...
To continue reading
Request your trial