JOHANNESBURG – The new Inflation Reduction Act in the US has improved the business case for producing manganese in that country.
The key piece of IRA legislation will reportedly provide tax credits for US battery manufacturers who have a 40% share of their critical minerals coming from the US or countries with which it has free trade agreements. That rises every year until 2027, when the threshold will be 80%, terms described as providing a strong platform for South32’s push into North America.“IRA is clearly supporting the use of EVs in the US around a 2030 timing.
Manganese for batteries is seen as having the potential to rise from a tiny proportion of the end-user demand to as much as 30% by 2030. Moreover, South Africa’s Manganese Metal Company, situated in Mbombela, is reportedly the world’s only non-China-based producer of high-grade electrolytic manganese metal and the world’s largest refinery of 99.9% EMM, with 95% of production exported.