Resumen de New opportunities in refractory and foundry markets for chromite
According to Sozer Ozel, CEO of Turkey-based chromite producer Bilfer Madencilik, another reason for chromite oversupply is the high cost of refractory and foundry-grade chromite, as their production involves extra processing and beneficiation.
In the US, chromite sand and chromite ore producer AMCOL International Corp., a Minerals Technology (MTI) Inc company, saw sales volumes of refractory-grade chromite and chromite sand decrease by about 5% in the first nine months of 2013.
During the same period, the price for foundry-grade chromite (47% Cr[subscript]2 O[subscript]3, dried, FOB South Africa) decreased from $330-360/tonne in April to $260-330/tonne in August 2014. Foundry-grade chromite (45.8% min Cr[subscript]2 O[subscript]3 wet bulk, FOB South Africa) is priced in the range of $280-360/tonne and chromite sand (moulding grade, 98% <30 mesh, del UK) is about $370-430/tonne as of August 2014.
