Global miner Anglo American’s South African subsidiary Kumba Iron Ore has announced its operational results for the third quarter and first nine months this year.
In the given quarter, Kumba Iron Ore produced 9.45 million mt of iron ore, up by 2.8 percent quarter on quarter and down by 3.0 percent year on year. In particular, output of its Kolomela iron ore mine came to 2.68 million mt, increasing by 5.5 percent quarter on quarter and declining by 12.3 percent year on year, while output at its Sishen mine increased by 1.8 percent quarter on quarter and by 1.3 percent year on year to 6.77 million mt. In the third quarter, the company’s iron ore sales amounted to 9.03 million mt, decreasing by 5.5 percent compared to the previous quarter due to the adverse weather conditions in July 2024 at the Saldanha Bay port, and up by 1.7 percent from the same period of 2023.
In the first nine months, the company produced 27.90 million mt of iron ore, down by 2.0 percent year on year, while it sold 27.12 million mt of iron ore, decreasing by 2.5 percent year on year. In particular, output of its Kolomela iron ore mine came to 7.93 million mt, declining by 12.0 percent year on year, while output at its Sishen mine increased by 2.6 percent year on year to 19.97 million mt.
Chief Executive of Kumba, Mpumi Zikalala expects demand for material such as Kumba’s high-quality iron ore lump to grow rapidly in the long term as the steel production shifts to direct reduced iron steel making, which has significantly lower emissions compared to the blast furnace route.
Kumba kept its guidance for production at the range of 35-37 million mt and sales of 36-38 million mt in the full year.