Resumen de Magnesia: : Year in Review 2015
Industrial Minerals
Elsewhere, other non-Chinese producers were vocal about the challenge of competing with Chinese production costs. Speaking at IM 's MagMin 2015 conference in Athens, Greece, in May, Michael Tsoukatos, director of development at Grecian Magnesite, said that what had traditionally been a low-margin industry is under increasing pressure from cheap Chinese material. Tsoukatos was speaking about caustic calcined magnesia (CCM), but the same issue was acknowledged by operators in the deadburned magnesia (DBM) and fused magnesia (FM) markets.
Belgium's Sibelco SA said in September that it would restructure its workforce at the Parkhurst magnesia processing plant in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, and its nearby Kunwarara-based mine. As of the end of 2015, it was still unclear whether this would affect the company's magnesia supply from Australia, which is run via the former Queensland Magnesia Pty Ltd (QMAG). Kunwarara produces around 3m tpa magnesite ore according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
Efforts to regulate prices for Chinese magnesia are being made, however. Christopher Zhao, assistant director of the Liaoning Special Resource Protection Office, told MagMin delegates in May that the Northeast Asia Magnesia Materials Trading Centre had been established in March 2014 to solve the problems of low pricing and industry infighting, as well as to provide financing for Liaoning magnesia companies. A planned magnesia price index will help discover and "lock in" prices for magnesia products, Zhao explained.
