French-headquartered miner Eramet presents an optimistic outlook for the global steel market in 2018, the company says in a note seen by Kallanish. The miner also saw a significant hike in its manganese production in 2017.

The production of carbon steel, the main outlet for one of Eramet’s core products, manganese, has increased significantly by 4.5% in 2017 year-on-year and should consolidate in 2018.

Compagnie Minière de l'Ogooué Comilog, a subsidiary of the Eramet Group in Gabon, produced and exported 4 million tonnes of manganese in 2017, Kallanish learns from the company. “The company's activity thus recorded a good increase compared to 2016, when production was 3.4mt," Comilog says in the note. 

The production increase has strengthened the Eramet Group’s position within the manganese industry and has had a positive effect on its financial results “… at a time when ore prices are relatively high”, the company adds.