Gulf Manganese Research Report, page-17

The production process making MC FeMn is a slag-metal equilibrium process, stated in the research report as the chemical reduction reaction. The process uses FeSi as the reductant and speeds up the process. According to the research report that was paid for by GMC it states that it requires 0.43 tonnes of FeSi to produce one tonne of MC FeMn.  The price of FeSi has doubled over the past year and is currently priced at US$1600/tonne. There are two main suppliers close to GMC who supply FeSi and these are Pertama  and OM Sarawak (OMH)  in Sarawak Malaysia. India and China are also producers but the price is the same. There are no FeSi producers in Indonesia, only importers. Therefore GMC will be paying US$688 for every one tonne of FeMn produced.
With the expensive power/electricity and now the burden of having to pay an exorbitant amount for  FeSi, I can only see GMC management dragging out the project as long as possible to fill their own pockets, because GMC won't be profitable. Companies who normally produce LC and MC FeMn usually produce their own FeSi.