Southern Africa

Executives from the South African petrochemical company Sasol announced on Monday that it is leaving the coal export market and starting a de-stoning program to improve the quality of the feedstock for its synthetic fuels and chemicals business. Sasol manufactures fuel and chemicals using coal and gas and exports about 2 million tonnes of fossil fuel each year. The quality of coal used in Sasol's Secunda operation has been low for many years due to the high content of stones. The company has been producing lower volumes of chemicals and fuels, consistently underperforming its historical output levels. Simon Baloyi, CEO...

Anglo American Platinum announced on Monday that it would pay an additional cash dividend of $856 million ahead of the planned spin-off into a separate unit. This is despite a 40% drop in profit to 8.4 billion Rands as the lower prices of platinum group metals continue to hurt earnings. Amplats, a Johannesburg-based company, said that the cash payment of 15.7 billion rands is an addition to its final dividend of 3 Rand per share in anticipation of its demerger from parent Anglo American. Amplats CEO Craig Miller told a media conference that the company will pay an additional dividend...

Scatec's CEO, who is a developer of renewables, said that cheaper solar power and batteries are increasing the role of these technologies in stabilising the energy system and offering more opportunities to renewables. Scatec, a Norwegian company, builds and owns renewable energy plants. Scatec has 4.2 gigawatts (GW) in operation, another 0.8 GW is under construction and 2 GW are near-term projections. Equinor is its largest shareholder. Scatec CEO Terje Piskog stated in an interview that solar panel prices had dropped by 66% and battery system prices by 58% over the past two years. This dramatic change has made renewable...

Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad stated on Monday that the company is working hard to maximize its value in case a new M&A bidder comes along. He also expects significant progress on a much-anticipated spin-off of De Beers' diamond business this year. Anglo American, a London-listed company, rejected a hostile bid of $49 billion from BHP in May. BHP was focusing on Anglo’s copper assets. Anglo has since streamlined its operations by selling coal assets and agreeing on the separation of its platinum business. It still needs to find partners for the UK fertiliser project, which requires massive amounts of...

De Beers, the diamond division of Anglo American, said it had completed negotiations with Botswana for a new rough-diamond sales agreement as well as extended mining licenses for its joint enterprise beyond 2029. Debswana is a joint venture 50:50 between the top diamond producer Botswana (and De Beers) that currently sells 75% its output to De Beers. In 2023, Botswana signed a new 10-year diamond deal with De Beers, which will see the government share of diamonds sold by the Debswana joint venture increase from 30% to gradually 50% over the next decade. This agreement was not signed by the...

South Africa's Energy Regulator granted Eskom a 12.7% average increase in tariff for 2025/26. This is a third less than the company requested. Eskom's request for increases of 36% in April, 12% by 2026, and 9% by 2027 prompted opposition during public consultations. Political parties and consumers blamed the poor economy and cost-of-living crises. Eskom must be sustainable in the short-term and long-term. Thembani Bukula is the chairman of Nersa. He said that we must ensure that Eskom's electricity services are affordable. Eskom's request for tens or even hundreds of millions of rands to cover coal contracts, an increased carbon...

South Africa's mining market reported 42 deaths last year, the lowest number to date and a 24% improvement on the previous year, official stats showed on Thursday. The stats did not include deaths from prohibited mining. Mines Minister Gwede Mantashe repeated the government's. position that unlawful mining is a criminal activity and not part. of his department's remit. Recently the bodies of 78 miners were pulled from an. unlawful gold mine after a heavily-criticised authorities operation. lasting numerous months that attempted to require them to the surface. Of the deaths caught in last year's official stats,. 11 were in the...

There is a 59% possibility of La Nina emerging in the NovemberJanuary period, a U.S. federal government forecaster stated on Thursday, including that the ultimate start of La Nina conditions would be weak and shortlived. WHY IT is essential La Nina, a climatic phenomenon defined by cooler-than-average ocean temperature levels in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, is connected with both floods and droughts impacting international agriculture, and higher Caribbean hurricane activity. CONTEXT Weak La Nina conditions would be less most likely to lead to conventional winter effects, though foreseeable signals might still influence the projection assistance, the National Weather...

Anglo American said on Tuesday it will offer more shares in its South African platinum system, as it accelerates strategies to spin it off. Anglo offered 16 million shares for sale in Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), worth about $535 million, according to a bookrunner. An earlier sale of its 5.3% stake in the platinum system netted about $400 million. The placing will raise money for Anglo American, the moms and dad business of Amplats, as it presses forward with a larger reorganizing strategy that is aimed at focusing its operations on copper and iron ore mining and increasing value. Anglo...

South Africa's Eskom said on Monday that the 90 billion rand ($ 4.96 billion) and counting in debts it is owed by towns and cities threats erasing its government bailout, as it argued for tariff walkings. The government has actually insisted a three-year debt-relief bundle worth more than 250 billion rand assured by South Africa's. National Treasury in 2015 is the power energy's last. Eskom's primary financial officer made the remarks at the. first day of public hearings into the company's application for. electrical power tariff walkings over the next 3 years. Eskom has actually asked the energy regulator to...

Shares of Paladin Energy plunged on Tuesday and were on track for their worst session in more than seven years, after the Australian uranium producer cut its financial 2025 output forecast for the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia. The stock decreased as much as 28.9% to A$ 6.880 by 0126 GMT, posting its biggest intraday percentage loss considering that May 2017. It strike its least expensive level because June 28, 2023. Paladin slashed its annual production forecast to 3.0-- 3.6. million pounds from 4.0-4.5 Mlb, mentioning operational obstacles. and delays in increase production. Australia's biggest pure-play uranium miner in regards...

SubSaharan African nations that depend upon product exports need to reform their economies to tackle irregular regional financial development, International Monetary Fund Africa Director Abebe Aemro Selassie stated. The region is expected to grow by 3.6% this year, unchanged from in 2015 and down from an April projection of 3.8%, the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook released today, with product economies lagging their varied equivalents. The product intensive countries are growing at about half the rate of the rest of the area, the IMF stated in the report, with oil exporters struggling one of the most in...

Northam Platinum CEO Paul Dunne stated on Friday that the platinum market would improve as a result of the growing supply deficit, while production decreases. The company had previously reported a halving in its profit for the first half of the year due to the low metal prices. The price of platinum group metals, which are used to reduce emissions in vehicles, has dropped sharply during the last two years due to concerns over growth in electric vehicle sales. Northam Platinum reported a headline profit of 238.24 millions rand ($12.89million) for the six-month period ending December, down 49.7% from 473.38million...

ArcelorMittal South Africa announced on Friday that it will stop producing long steel by April of this year, after talks with the government did not succeed in preventing the closure. The closure of the long-sealed operations is expected to affect 3,500 direct and indirectly employed workers. This will be due to the lack of domestic demand, competition from scrap metal recycling mini-mills in the area and imports from China. ArcelorMittal South Africa’s long steel production operations produce rails, rods, and bars that are used in construction, mining, and manufacturing. ArcelorMittal SA, the world's second largest steelmaker, has announced that it...

Impala Platinum's (Implats') CEO Nico Muller announced that the company could shut down its palladium mining operation in Canada sooner than expected if metal prices do not recover immediately. This was after a 43 percent drop in profits for the first half of 2012. Palladium's price has dropped the most of any platinum group metal (PGM), from a peak in March 2022 of around $3,440 per ounce down to its current level of $921. Muller stated that Implats may close the Canada Mine before the expiration of the remaining two years. However, no final decision was made yet. Muller told...

Sibanye Stillwater announced on Wednesday that it would not invest in the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium project in Nevada, U.S.A. after the price of rare metals plunged. After reviewing updated studies about the planned lithium mining, Johannesburg-based Sibanye decided not to invest in additional projects. Sibanye, without providing any further information, said that the lithium project "didn't meet the Sibanye Stillwater Investment hurdle rates at prudent price assumptions". After a glut of supply, the price of lithium used in batteries that power electric cars has dropped more than 80% since its peak, which was reached in November 2022. This forced companies...

According to a document that was seen on Tuesday, countries in Eastern and Southern Africa are considering the possibility of sending troops to secure eastern Democratic Republic of Congo areas now controlled by M23 rebels. EAC and SADC have called before for a ceasefire to be declared in the conflict in this mineral-rich area, where the Congo's Prime Minister said that 7,000 people had been killed since January. This document contains detailed recommendations for defence chiefs following a meeting with technical experts on the 23rd of February in Tanzania. Defence chiefs will prepare a report to be discussed at the...

The Botswana government signed on Tuesday a long delayed diamonds sales contract with Anglo American's De Beers unit, expressing the hope that it will create jobs in an economy which is struggling. The negotiations began in 2018. The two sides agreed on terms in 2023, under the previous Botswana president. However, they never signed a formal agreement. The new president Duma Boko, who came to power in October last year, made the signing of the De Beers deal a top priority. The deal is crucial to Botswana, as its economy is heavily dependent on diamond exports. "We are confident that...

Zambia has suspended the 15% export tax for precious metals and stones in an effort to increase its competitiveness on global markets and attract investment, said the Finance Ministry on Wednesday. After being suspended in 2019, the southern African country, which is the second largest producer of emeralds in the world after Colombia, will reintroduce the tax in 2025. The ministry released a statement saying that "Zambian precious metals and stones will now be more competitively priced on the global markets, thereby increasing interest from international customers and leading to increased sales volumes." Gemfields (which operates Kagem, the largest emerald...

The rand gained strength on Friday, after U.S. president Donald Trump announced he would impose reciprocal duties on countries that tax U.S. imported goods. Investors were also awaiting the domestic budget due next week. At 1503 GMT, the rand was trading at 18.32 per dollar, which is 0.9% higher than its previous closing. Trump, on Thursday, tasked his team of economists with planning reciprocal tariffs against every country that taxes U.S. imports. This could lead to a global trade conflict. Gold prices rose due to fears of a possible trade war. They were on track for their seventh consecutive weekly...

Richard Stewart, the current head of operations for the Southern Africa region of Sibanye Stillwater, will succeed Neal Froneman as CEO of the company at the end September, the company announced on Thursday. Stewart joined Sibanye back in 2014. Investors have long viewed him as a potential successor to Froneman who will turn 66 this September. Froneman is the CEO of Sibanye, which was founded in 2013 by the merger of three Gold Fields mines. Sibanye is now a diversified mining company with operations in Southern Africa, the United States and gold and platinum group metals (PGM). Froneman also pushed...

The rand of South Africa fell early on Tuesday, as traders assessed the impact of U.S. president Donald Trump's new tariffs on imports such as steel and aluminum. These tariffs could spark a multi-fronted trade war. At 0727 GMT the rand was trading at 18.4725 per dollar. This is about 0.1% lower than its previous closing. Trump increased tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum to 25%, "without any exceptions or exclusions", on Monday in an effort to boost production within the largest economy. ETM Analytics stated in a research report that South Africa will be "minimally affected". The note...

Impala Platinum, a South African company, said that it expects its half year profit to drop by up to 49% over the next six months as metal prices remain low. Impala, which is the second largest producer of platinum group materials used to reduce emissions from automobiles, expects its headline earnings for the six-month period ending December 31 to range between 1.65 billion and 1.95 billion Rand ($89.39-$105.65 millions), down from the previous 3.26 billion Rand. The miner stated that its earnings had been negatively affected by the lower dollar prices for its metals, as well as a strengthening rand...

The leaders of the Eastern and Southern African region met on Saturday for an unprecedented summit to find a resolution to a conflict in east Congo. Rapid advances by Rwandan-backed rebellions since January have sparked fears of a larger war. M23 rebels captured Goma last week, the largest town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This was the worst fighting in over a decade and thousands of people were killed. They have marched southwards towards Bukavu despite announcing an unilateral ceasefire. Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and other presidents gathered on the stage to begin the talks in Dar es Salaam....