In the manganese-based hydrometallurgy industry chain, sulphuric acid is not an ordinary auxiliary material, but rather a core lifeline raw material that runs through the production of all product categories, controls production costs, and influences process selection. Mainstream products such as EMM, various grades of manganese sulphate, and EMD differ vastly in production processes and have entirely different acid consumption structures, which also causes the sensitivity of various manganese products to sulphuric acid price fluctuations to be completely stratified. Every round of acid price changes transmits from top to bottom, directly reshaping the cost structure and market dynamics of the manganese industry chain.

1 High Acid Consumption Rigid-Demand Categories: Costs Most Extremely Affected by Acid Prices

1 EMM is the product with the strongest rigid acid consumption across the entire manganese series.China's mainstream production relies on the hydrometallurgy process using manganese carbonate ore, with sulphuric acid running through the entire core production process: the primary function is acid leaching to dissolve ore, converting manganese elements in solid ore into manganese sulphate, the core raw material for electrolyte; secondly, through precise regulation of solution pH values, combined with lime and sulphiding agents, impurities such as iron, aluminum, and heavy metals are removed to ensure high-purity electrolyte quality; meanwhile, electrolytic cell acidity is maintained stable throughout the process to provide the necessary operating conditions for manganese sheet electrolytic deposition. The superposition of multiple acid consumption demands deeply binds EMM costs to sulphuric acid prices, and acid price fluctuations have the most direct impact on its profitability.

2 EMD also belongs to the high acid consumption category, with the production logic being "ore dissolution and purification + anodic electrolysis forming."First, manganese ore is leached with sulphuric acid to prepare a crude manganese sulphate solution, which then undergoes deep purification and impurity removal to obtain a qualified electrolyte; finally, it is fed into the electrolytic cell, where MnO2 solid is directly deposited through anodised reaction. The entire process relies on an acidic system, with strong rigid acid consumption, and costs are significantly affected by acid price linkage.

2 Medium-to-Low Acid Consumption Categories: Process Differences Widen Cost Gaps

1 Battery-grade high-purity manganese sulphate has acid consumption concentrated in the front-end core processes, with precise and fixed applications.First is ore acid leaching, converting manganese ore into manganese sulphate stock solution, which is the main acid-consuming step; second is deep purification, relying on acidity regulation to remove trace impurities and meet lithium battery high-purity material standards; third is crystallization acid control, effectively suppressing manganese ion hydrolysis, stabilizing the monohydrate manganese sulphate crystal form, and ensuring product quality consistency, with no excess or ineffective acid consumption.

2 Battery-grade Mn3O4 exhibits extremely pronounced cost differentiation due to different production processes, with the core gap stemming from "whether or not ore dissolution is involved."For the ore-based preparation route, all acid consumption is concentrated at the front end, used for manganese ore leaching, solution purification, and preparation of high-purity precursor solutions and crystals, while the back-end calcination and forming processes consume no sulphuric acid at all; for the EMM sheet preparation route, no ore leaching step is needed, requiring only a small amount of sulphuric acid to dissolve manganese sheets and fine-tune pH values to prevent raw material hydrolysis, significantly reducing acid consumption and possessing strong cost advantages in a high acid price environment.

3. Feed-grade manganese sulphate was relatively less affected by acid prices.Due to lenient purity requirements for industrial use, the production process is extremely simple, requiring only sulphuric acid to dissolve manganese from ore, with basic pH adjustment to remove iron and aluminum impurities. No acid-intensive processes such as deep impurity removal or recrystallization are needed, resulting in the lowest overall acid consumption pressure and relatively moderate cost fluctuations.

III. Deep Industry Dynamics: Dual Constraints of Acid Prices and Environmental Protection Driving Process Upgrades

The core contradiction in the current manganese industry has long gone beyond simple acid price changes; it is the dual constraint of cost fluctuations and environmental protection quotas.

Mainstream enterprises in China's Manganese Triangle Region (Chongqing Xiushan, Hunan Huayuan, Guizhou Songtao) have long used local manganese carbonate ore for production. This type of ore has low grade and high impurity content. Although raw material procurement costs are low and the process is compatible with legacy production lines, the critical weakness is the massive slag output after acid leaching. Under strict industry-wide manganese slag environmental protection quota controls, enterprise capacity is firmly constrained by slag volume caps, severely limiting room for production expansion.

To break through the dual pressure of capacity and cost, top-tier players have been optimizing their production structures: by blending high-grade imported manganese oxide ore and adding pre-calcination processes, they reduce ore impurities at the source, significantly lower manganese slag output, and mitigate environmental protection-driven production restrictions risks. Meanwhile, this optimization effectively adapts to the acid consumption system, reduces ineffective acid usage, and offsets cost pressure from high sulphuric acid prices, achieving a triple improvement of "stable capacity, lower costs, and controlled environmental risks."

IV. Market Outlook Summary: Process Divergence Intensifies, Costs Dominate Market Trends

Overall, sulphuric acid price trends directly determine the cost floor for manganese-series products, while process differences across product categories and production routes have led to structural divergence in the industry. High acid-consuming EMM is highly sensitive to acid price fluctuations, while low acid-consuming lithium battery manganese salts and manganese flake-based trimanganese tetraoxide demonstrate stronger profit resilience.

Going forward, sulphuric acid price fluctuations will continue to dominate cost support in the manganese market, while accelerating the elimination of outdated capacity with high slag and high acid consumption, driving the industry chain toward concentration inadvanced processes featuring optimized ore blending, low acid consumption, and high environmental protection standards.The industry landscape will continue to improve.