In the Chinese manganese flake market, during the first half of 2017 prices fell back from early the year and fluctuated frequently during the latter half, but hovered at a low level generally throughout the year. Meanwhile, with prices for raw materials going up and production costs increasing accordingly, manganese enterprises were exposed to a risk of making losses. In the year of 2018, Chinese government is expected to continue with its unrelenting efforts in enforcing strict environmental regulations, and moreover, the environmental protection tax will go into effect in China. Under such a background, how to control production costs becomes very important for survival and development of manganese enterprises. China's manganese flake exports in 2017 grew notably in comparison to those in 2016, and will this trend continue into 2018? Besides the traditional destination regions including Europe, Japan and South Korea for Chinese manganese flake exports, Chinese enterprises should also pay attention to developments in the consumption of other regions such as Indonesia and North America.
Regarding the Chinese selenium market, affected by the ongoing environmental storms, glass and ceramic industries in China experienced hard times; and also owing to poor market conditions in the manganese flake industry, the Chinese selenium market ran quietly in 2017, with no compelling achievements made. But just as one saying goes, storms come on the heels of tranquility, we expect to see a re-activated Chinese selenium market in the coming year.
