Resumen de Chromite conundrum: how to bring demand back into an abating market
USGS figures show global chromite resources to be greater than 12bn tonnes. The majority of chromite resources are concentrated in South Africa, which owns about 75% of world's reserves, with Pariser's estimates of shipping-grade chromite amounting to 6.8bn tonnes.
South Africa produces more chromite than it consumes, with about 4.6m tonnes out of over 10m tonnes of chromite used in the domestic market in 2012, according to ICDA. The nation is therefore the largest exporter of chromite worldwide with exports reaching 5.5m tonnes in 2012, up by 3% compared with those in 2011.
According to ICDA's 2012 estimates, South Africa exported 495,000 tonnes chromite to Western Europe and Turkey, up by about 69% y-o-y. 277,000 tonnes was exported to the US, up by 45% y-o-y, 68,000 tonnes to South America, down by 13% y-o-y, and 61,200 tonnes to India, down by 11% y-o-y.
