Manganese ore
Manganese is a hard brittle silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. It’s a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy uses, particularly in stainless steels. Manganese has no satisfactory substitute in its major applications in metallurgy. It improves strength, workability and resistance to wear. Its oxide is used as an oxidizing agent, as a rubber additive, in glass making, fertilizers and ceramics. Its sulfate can be used as a fungicide.
Iron ore
One of the world’s most widely used metals, iron is primarily used to make steel – often in conjunction with ferroalloys. Structural steel and steel reinforcing bar – known as rebar – are often used in buildings and bridges. Stainless steel, meanwhile, has countless uses, from construction and vehicles to cutlery, cookware and domestic appliances.
Copper
Copper has a vast range of household and industrial uses. Its superior electrical conductivity makes it ideal for electronics, such as wiring and computer connections and its ability to heat up and cool down quickly makes it ideal for heat exchange applications such as air conditioners. This metal is easily recycled, and also used in renewable energy technologies such as solar cells and electric vehicles – so it has a vital role to play in a sustainable future.
Lithium
Lithium is a soft silvery metal and its most important use is in rechargeable batteries for mobile phones and other devices. It is also used in some non-rechargeable batteries and may be made into alloys improving their strength and making them lighter.
Niobium
Niobium is a very corrosion resistant metal used in alloys to improve its strength, particularly in low temperatures. Alloys containing niobium are used in jet engines and rockets, beams and girders for buildings and oil rigs, and oil and gas pipelines. This element also has superconducting properties. It is used in superconducting magnets for particle accelerators, MRI scanners and NMR equipment.
Sugar
Sugar is a sweet material that consists essentially of sucrose obtained from sugarcane or sugar beets and is typically colorless or white when pure. The main functions of sugar is to give sweetness and to provide energy but it also enhances taste and aroma, increases volume through the process of fermentation, provides texture and consistency, reduces the freezing point, increases the shelf life of products and gives color to food.
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, the seeds of berries from certain flowering plants. From the coffee fruit, the seeds are separated to produce a stable, raw product: green coffee. The seeds are roasted, a process which transforms them into a consumable product: roasted coffee, which is ground into fine particles that are typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out, producing a cup of coffee. It is one of the most popular drinks in the world.
Other mineral commodities
In addition to the mineral commodities above, NETZ trades alloys, tin, nickel, zinc, aluminium, titanium, lead, tantalite and more.