South African manganese miners eye Transnet partnership for new export terminal

Image credit: Bob Adams from Amanzimtoti, South Africa, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ARM, whose unit Assmang is a member of the Manganese Producers Consortium (MPC), said private companies were keen to partner with state-owned Transnet on the project, which is expected to add 16 million metric tonnes of manganese export capacity and improve logistics.

"The MPC intends to bid for the request for quotation with Transnet as a joint-venture partner for the design, build, construction and operator of the new manganese ore export port at Ngqura, namely the Ngqura Manganese Ore Export Terminal," ARM said in a results statement.

Transnet has said it will invite bids for the Ngqura manganese export terminal around April.

The freight rail and port operator is opening parts of its network to private firms to help restore capacity that has slumped in recent years, throttling mineral exports.

Manganese miners would be keen on operating both the rail line and port, Maryke Burger, CEO of ARM's ferrous division, told a results call.

"An integrated system would be the optimal (one). We will see if rail is included when the request for quotation proposal comes out," Burger said.

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South Africa holds about 70% of the world's manganese resources and is the top producer of the mineral, which is mainly used in steelmaking. Exports go mostly to China, the world's biggest steelmaker.

The country is estimated to have exported about 26.2 million tonnes of manganese in 2025, a record, after the previous peak of 22.3 million tonnes in 2024, according to the Minerals Council South Africa.

ARM's manganese ore operations reported a 76% decline in headline earnings, hit by a 22% drop in the average dollar price for high-grade ore.

The diversified miner's profit rose 10% to R1.67bn in the six months to 31 December, as higher platinum group metal prices offset lower income from manganese, iron ore and its loss-making coal division.