The Ferro Chrome (FeCr) distributed by FrontMet is produced in South Africa, Brazil, India, China and Turkey. But what is Ferro Chrome? In this week’s item we briefly explain FeCr.
Stainless steel depends on Ferro Chrome for its appearance, hardenability and its corrosion resisting properties. FeCr production is essentially a Carbothermic reduction operation, taking place at high temperatures of about 2,800 °C/ 5,070 °F. The high-grade Chromite ore is first grinded, carbon is added to separate the oxygen from the Iron and Chrome and melted in the processing plant. In the process of smelting, huge amounts of electricity are consumed, making production cost high. The final product is Ferro Chrome.
Out of the total world Chromite ore output, about 95% is used to produce FeCr for the metallurgical industry. FrontMet supplies two types of FeCr. High Carbon/ Charge Chrome and Low Carbon. High Carbon is commonly used in specialist applications such as engineering steels. Lower Carbon FeCr is produced in smaller quantities for more specialized applications. South Africa has 90% of the world’s economic Chrome reserves. Turkey is emerging as one of the major suppliers of Chromite, most of it going to the Chinese Ferro Chrome industry.
For more information about Ferro Chrome, visit our Ferro Alloys page: https://www.frontmet.com/products/ferro_alloys
