According to the customs statistics of Brazil, the import volume of silico manganese in the period from January to April in 2015 was 9,956 tons, grossly up by 9.6 times as much as 1,038 tons in the year-earlier period. As is the case in ferro- silicon, the decreased portion due to shortage of electricity was made up for by import.

 

Under normal conditions, Brazil is a producing country of manganese ore, and the export and import balance for silico manganese used to be always in a state of excess export. However, the export volume in the period from January to April in 2015 was 2,898 tons (down by 83.9% from the year-earlier period), which was far below the import volume (9,956 tons). Such reasons are provided as (1) The domestic production in Brazil decreases due to the prolonged power shortage stemming from the record-setting drought in 2014, (2) World's continuing drops in the price of manganese ore and (3) Likewise, the continuing drops in the price of silico manganese.

 

The main import source in the period from January to April in 2015 was Ukraine (3,960 tons), Georgia (2,882 tons), USA (1,643 tons) and India (1,086 tons), and the import from India has shown an increasing trend since February. 

 

For a reference, the result of export and import is as follows.

 

(Export) 66,941 tons in 2011, 55,119 tons in 2012, 66,962 tons in 2013 and 29,850 tons in 2014

 

(Import) 4,290 tons in 2011, 4,698 tons in 2012, 6,506 tons in 2013 and 8,738 tons in 2014