South32’s South African Mn mines a winner while Australia proves is a loss

 

 

 

South32’s Australian manganese operations in its fiscal 2025 year had an underlying EBITDA was a loss of $105-million due to the impact of Tropical Cyclone Megan. In addition, the unit incurred idle capacity and other remediation costs of $133-million (South32's share) that were excluded from underlying EBITDA as an earnings adjustment. The unit’s underlying revenue was $42-million with an underlying EBIT of a negative $125-millon in fiscal 2025.

 

Australia’s production is expected to be 3,200,000 wmt across both fiscal 2026 and 2027 as the operation delivers normalized production rates. The Australian’s operating unit cost is expected to be $2.40 per wmt in fiscal 2026; the company did not provide a fiscal 2025 number due to the close of its Temco mine. 

 

South32’a South African manganese production was largely unchanged at 2,151,000 wmt in fiscal 25, as the operation continued to deliver strong mining performance and benefitted from improved access to inland rail logistics. Production is expected to be 2-million wmt across both fiscal 2026 and 2027, subject to continued use of higher cost trucking in response to market conditions. 

 

Underlying EBITDA decreased by $19-million to $46-million in fiscal 2025, for an operating margin of 13%, as higher average realized manganese prices and lower inland logistics costs, were more than offset by a stronger South African rand and additional planned maintenance. 

 

The unit’s underlying revenue was $353-million with an underlying EBIT of $24-million in fiscal 2025.

 

The South African’s operating unit cost for ore was $3.05 in fiscal 2025 but was expected to increase to $3.10 in fiscal 2026 due to general cost inflation