CHROMIUM
By John F. Papp
Dr. Papp, a physical scientist with 22 years of U.S. Bureau of Mines experience,
has been the commodity specialist for
chromium since 1983. Domestic survey data were prepared by Nicole Picciotta,
statistical assistant; and chromite and
ferrochromium world production data, by country, were prepared by Amy Burke,
international data specialist. Cost of
production data were prepared by Edward H. Boyle, Minerals Availability Field
Office, Division of Resource Evaluation. (All
tonnages are in metric tons unless otherwise specified.)


Chromium has a wide range of uses in


metals, chemicals, and refractories. It is
one of the Nation's most important
strategic  and   critical  materials.
Chromium use in iron, steel, and
nonferrous alloys enhances hardenability
and resistance to corrosion and oxidation.
The use of chromium to produce stainless
steel and nonferrous alloys is one of its
more important applications.   Other
applications are in alloy steel, plating of
metals, pigments, leather processing,
catalysts,  surface  treatments,  and
refractories.
Because the United States has no
chromite ore reserves and a limited
reserve base, domestic supply has been a
concern during every national military
emergency since World War I. World
chromite resources, mining capacity, and
ferrochromium production capacity are
concentrated in the Eastern Hemisphere.
The National Defense Stockpile (NDS)
contains chromium in various forms,
including chromite ore, chromium
ferroalloys, and chromium metal in
recognition of the vulnerability of long
supply  routes  during   a   military
emergency.
Research is conducted by the Federal
Government to reduce U.S. vulnerability
to   potential  chromium     supply
interruption. That research covers both
domestic  resource   utilization  and
alternative  materials  identification.
Domestic chromium resources include
mineral deposits and recyclable materials.
The U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S.
Bureau of Mines evaluate U.S. territory
for chromium mineral deposits. The
U.S. Bureau of Mines also studies


minerals extraction and processing and


materials substitution and recycling.
Alternative materials research also is
conducted by the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, the National
Institute of Standards and Technology,
the Department of Defense, and the
Department of Energy.
World chromite ore reserves are more
than adequate to meet anticipated world
demand.


DOMESTIC DATA COVERAGE


Domestic data coverage of the primary
consuming industries-chemical,
metallurgical,  and  refractory-are
developed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines
by means of the voluntary monthly
"Chromite Ores and Chromium Products"
survey. The companies listed in table 10
by industry accounted for 100% of the
chromite consumption data by industry in
the current year of table 12. All of the
metallurgical, refractory, and chemical
companies that consumed chromite in
1993 reported to the U.S. Bureau of
Mines.
Domestic   production  data   for
chromium ferroalloys and metal are
developed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines
by means of two separate, voluntary
surveys.  These two surveys are the
monthly "Chromite Ores and Chromium
Products' and the annual "Ferroalloys."
Production by the metallurgical
companies listed in table 10 represented
100% of the domestic production shown
in the current year of table 11.


BACKGROUND


Chromium owes its prominence as a
commodity to its use in stainless steel.
Stainless steel was invented in the early
1900's. Soon thereafter electric furnaces
evolved that could smelt chromite into
ferrochromium.  Before about 1960,
ferrous alloys required the addition of as
little carbon as possible because carbon
could not efficiently be removed from
molten steel. Thus, the production of
low-carbon, high-chromium alloys
(typically less than 0.1 % carbon and
more than 65 % chromium) in or near
steel-producing centers was the common
practice. To make this ferrochromium,
high chromium-to-iron ratio ores were
required (ratios greater than about 2:1).
Since 1960, major changes have
occurred in the chromium industry
because of changes in steelmaking
technology. The development of ladle
refining techniques (i.e., processes that
permit the chemical modification of liquid
metal),  such   as   argon-oxygen
decarburization, permitted the steel
industry to shift from the more costly
low-carbon ferrochromium to the less
costly high-carbon ferrochromium as its
major source of chromium units. This
shift in ferrochromium grade has been
accompanied by a shift in quantity of
production among ferrochromium-
producing countries. Since the 1970's,
chromite ore-producing countries have
developed their own ferrochromium
production capacities.  As a result,
ferrochromium production has moved
from the major stainless steel-producing
centers in Japan, the United States, and


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CHROMIUM-1993