IMnI Conference 2024 Oman - Press Release
Theme of the conference: Middle East: a future growth driver for the Manganese sector?
This year again, the International Manganese Institute’s 48th Annual Conference remained the world’s biggest Manganese event, gathering in Oman more than 250 delegates from 120 companies, based in 35 countries. This is a new record for attendance at an IMnI conference in our 50-year history!
This event attracted major Manganese ore, alloy, metal and chemical producers, in addition to traders, logistics companies, battery producers and steelmakers. Industry experts presented on the latest dynamics in the battery, steel and Manganese sectors (presentations are available for IMnI Members on the IMnI extranet, and upon request for non-Members at imni@manganese.org):
- Prospects for the Middle East economies, William Husband, Managing Director, Global Head Metals & Mining, Citibank
- Recent steel industry dynamics and decarbonization, Steven Vercammen, Senior Expert - BMI, McKinsey & Company
- Steel production in Oman, Prakash Chaudhari, COO, Jindal Shadeed Iron and Steel LLC
- China's strategy to supply Manganese to batteries, Michael Li, Vice-President, South Manganese Group Ltd.
- Will batteries be a game-changer for the Manganese industry? Vincent Braet, Purchase Manager Manganese, Umicore
- Outlook for cathode trends and impact on manganese, Jack Bedder, Founder & Director, Project Blue
- China's Manganese market overview: what to expect? Zhou Jian, CEO of Shanghai Fengri International Trading Co. Ltd.
- Mining Manganese responsibly: market challenges and opportunities, Arnaud Vigier, Manganese ore Sales Director, Eramet
- What to expect in the Manganese alloy market? Kevin Fowkes, Research Director, Steel Alloy Markets, Wood Mackenzie
- Panel discussion on Manganese, Arnaud Vigier (Eramet), Kevin Fowkes (Wood Mackenzie), Zhou Jian (Fengri Trading), Jenson Ong (Platts)
- The Mn Industry and CBAM: how to comply? Nadia Vinck, Director EHS, Energy & Climate, Euroalliages aisbl
- Deep-sea Manganese extraction: a game-changer? Kris De Bruyne, Project Manager, Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR)
- Regulatory effects on profitability – The THING around our necks, Dr. Doreen McGough, Executive Director, Manganese REACH Administration (MARA)
The conference was supported by major sponsors, including Autlán, Ore & Metal, South32, OM Holdings, Tshipi é Ntle Manganese Mining, Maringa Ferro Ligas and World Metals & Alloys. The event offered countless networking opportunities, during the Welcome Cocktail at the Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz Carlton hotel, during networking lunches, social events, the wine-tasting, and gala dinner!
During the IMnI conference, several delegates attended the technical visit of Sohar Port & Free zone and C. Steinweg at Sohar port:
Feedback from the delegates after the event:
- Thank you for the organization of this conference! It was again a great opportunity to meet many people from our industry face-to-face! (Umicore)
- This conference is one of the nicest conferences I attend (McKinsey)
- Well done and thank you for the organization (Eramet)
- Congrats on the excellent conference – I’m really impressed with how the IMnI has organized all of this (Global Sea Mineral Resources)
- Thank you for a great conference (Sakura Ferroalloys)
- Thank you for an exceptionally executed conference (Bloomberg)
- Thank you for the conference – it was great (Traxys)
- Congratulations on a very enjoyable conference (Project Blue)
- Thanks for all the work you put in to make another great conference (CRU)
- The event proved to be highly informative and served as an excellent platform for networking with industry peers (Ramnik Power and Alloys)
- IMnI indeed has hosted it well seamlessly and the excitement with the increasing trend was highlighted at the conference (Shreenath Fine Chem)
- Congratulations to the IMnI team for conducting a well planned successful event. The event arrangements were top notch and the networking opportunities were highly insightful (Sarda Metals & Alloys)
- What a privilege to have attended this amazing event! (African Rainbow Minerals)
- Congratulations on the successful event! (S&P Global Platts)
- We are glad that we could meet the most important players on the market during the full-fledged interesting program (OFZ, a.s.)
12 companies have joined the International Manganese Institute (IMnI) so far in 2024
These companies have been introduced to all other IMnI Members during the Welcome Cocktail of the Oman conference:
The IMnI now represent 127 major Manganese companies, including 15 in India, and 32 in China! For more information about the IMnI: www.manganese.org or info@manganese.org