Miners and Transnet eye Ngqura terminal to boost SA exports

Top producers of manganese ore in South Africa, the world’s biggest producer of the steelmaking ingredient, intend to bid for a new export terminal at the southeastern port of Ngqura.

The Manganese Producers’ Consortium — which comprises companies including South32-controlled Hotazel Manganese Mines — plans to bid for the request for quotation to design, build, and operate the terminal in the second quarter, according to African Rainbow Minerals, which owns 50% of Assmang, another key miner of the ore that’s part of the MPC.

The group will bid for the facility with state-owned ports and rail operator Transnet as a joint-venture partner, African Rainbow said in a statement Friday.

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South Africa has about three-quarters of the world’s identified manganese-ore reserves, most of it concentrated in the Kalahari Basin of the Northern Cape province — the largest known land-based deposit globally. More than 85% is exported as raw ore or partially processed concentrate.

The nation commands more than 36% of the global seaborne manganese trade, straining local rail and port export capacity. Transnet is trying to turn around its logistics operations after years of graft and mismanagement hollowed the business out.

Due to environmental concerns, the company has committed to decommissioning its manganese bulk terminal at the Port of Port Elizabeth — which handles 5.5 million tons annually — by relocating exports to a facility at neighbouring Ngqura, with the new hub capable of handling 16 million tons annually.

Transnet is also working with the private sector to upgrade capacity in the rail corridor connecting the Northern Cape to Ngqura, preventing mismatches in capacity development, it said in its most recent annual report.

African Rainbow said the partnership with the MPC is yielding results, with wagon payload capacity to the port of Saldanha in the Western Cape province increasing to 67 tons from 63 tons over the past 12 months, resulting in an additional 350 000 tons of total annual rail and port capacity.

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Assmang is also a key local producer of iron ore and is working with Transnet to stabilise and improve the port and rail network for the steelmaking ingredient through the Ore Users’ Forum, reporting a 7% improvement in the six months through December 31 compared with a year earlier.

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