Soon to add Canada to the list and Canada may soon be China's producer of choice?

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These 4 Countries are the World’s Top Chromium Producers

What countries were the world's top chromium producers in 2016? Find out here.

Chromium is a steely-gray, hard and brittle metal that resists tarnishing and has a high melting point. Those characteristics make it a key element in steel production; in fact, chromium producers sell about 60 percent of their output to the steel industry.

The steel industry consumes chromium somewhat indirectly in that steel production requires ferrochrome, an alloy of chromium and iron that contains 50 to 70 percent chromium by weight. Essentially, chromium is used to produce ferrochrome, which is then used to make steel.

China is the world’s top producer of ferrochrome, as well as the world’s top stainless steel producer. However, it produces no chromium at all. It also has very few choices in where to get all the chromium it requires — according to the US Geological Survey’s most recent report on chromium, only four countries produced the metal in 2016.

Here’s a look a brief overview of those four chromium producers and how they contribute to worldwide chromium production. All in all, global output of the metal remained neutral year-on-year in 2016, reaching a total of 30,400 MT.

1. South Africa

Mine production: 14,000 MT

South Africa produced 14,000 MT of chromium in 2016, beating out the rest of the world’s chromium producers by a wide margin. Its output was the same as it was in 2015.

Interestingly, South Africa used to be the world’s largest producer of ferrochrome as well as the top chromium producer; however, it lost that title in 2012 to China. The US Geological Survey states that part of the reason China was able to beat out South Africa is that ferrochrome production requires a lot of energy — that’s a problem in South Africa, where supply of electrical power can be constrained.

2. Kazakhstan

Mine production: 5,500 MT

Last year, Kazakhstan produced 5,500 MT of chromium, up only slightly from its 2015 output of 5,490 MT. One major chromium operation in the country is the Vokshod mine and plant, owned by Yildirim Group. The operation’s annual chrome ore production capacity currently stands at 1.3 million tons.

Eurasian Natural Resources is also a big presence in Kazakhstan’s chromium space. The company’s ferroalloys division includes Kazchrome, which in turn is made up of four operating companies: the Donskoy ore mining and processing plant; the Aktobe ferroalloys plant; the Aksu ferroalloys plant; and the Kazmarganets mining enterprise.

3. Turkey

Mine production: 3,500 MT

Turkey maintained its chromium production in 2016, retaining its position as one of the world’s top chromium producers. It put out 3,500 MT, the same amount it produced in 2015.

Yildirim Group is also a major player in the Turkish chromium industry through Eti Krom, which it acquired in 2004. Eti Krom is the world’s biggest hard lumpy marketable chrome ore producer, and is the only chrome ore supplier in Turkey that can extract chromium throughout the entire year. Yildirim Group also states that Eti Krom is the only high-carbon ferrochrome producer in Turkey.

4. India

Mine production: 3,200 MT

Last on this list of top chromium producers is India, which produced 3,200 MT of chromium in 2016. Little information is available on the Indian chromium space. In its most recent yearly mineral commodity summary for chromium, the US Geological Survey states that chromium ferroalloys were produced at plants in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Odisha and West Bengal states.