TRANSNET SIGNS R8BN DEAL WITH UNITED MANGANESE

RAIL parastatal Transnet yesterday announced the signing of a Manganese Export Capacity Allocation (Meca 2) contract with United Manganese of Kalahari (UMK), the fourth-largest manganese producer in the country. The seven-and-a-half-year contract, which will be back-dated from September 2015 to March 2023, is worth over R8 billion and will provide UMK with an allocation of both rail capacity and port capacity through Transnet’s different manganese export channels. In a statement yesterday, Transnet said the allocation agreement includes the transportation, storage, and loading aboard a vessel of UMK’s production destined for the export market. Manganese export volumes have increased from 5 million tons a year to the current 15.1 million tons a year since the inception of the Meca 2 programme in 2015. Transnet said that, to date, it had concluded nine out of 10 Meca 2 contracts with local manganese producers, including with four emerging miners, which continue to benefit from the integration and seamlessness of the value-chain processes for this commodity, an indication that the logistics company was serious about the integration of its operations to suit its customers’ needs. South Africa accounts for close to 75 percent of global manganese reserves. The manganese from UMK will come mainly from the Kalahari manganese fields in the Northern Cape and will be sent to Saldanha on the iron-ore railway line, Port Elizabeth and Richards Bay. Transnet’s Mike Fanucchi said that, together with key manganese producers, it has set aside 15 percent of the overall manganese export line capacity for new entrants to the manganese export market. UMK chief executive Victor Radko said the contract provides a stable base.