Amplats weighs cutting jobs after metal prices dip

Anglo American Platinum has proposed a restructuring that may affect 3 700 jobs across its South African operations, as plummeting metal prices squeezed profits.

That’s a blow for what has long been one the country’s biggest export industries and is another setback for the ANC ahead of key elections later this year.

The potential cuts could impact about 17% of the workforce at the company known as Amplats, plus more than 600 firms whose contracts with the miner are to be reviewed.

In December, the company’s parent Anglo American warned that returns for miners of platinum-group metals (PGMs) were at the lowest level in 30 years.

Despite taking steps last year to reposition the business, Amplats CEO Craig Miller said it’s clear they don’t go far enough.

“It is apparent that further measures to create critical resilience and greater competitiveness are needed to sustain the business,” Miller said in a statement yesterday.

The price of PGMs – used to curb emissions from gasoline and diesel vehicles – has nosedived since the start of last year due to auto industry destocking and a subdued global economy.

That’s a rapid reversal of fortunes for Amplats and its Johannesburg-based peers.

Just two years ago, the firms were declaring bumper earnings as automaker demand pushed the price of rhodium and palladium – metals produced alongside platinum – to record levels.

“The outlook for automotive demand is likely to be flat,” so “prices will probably hover around current levels” this year, Miller said in an interview.

Amplats said profit tumbled 73% to R13 billion last year, from R49.2 billion in 2022.

The company slashed its dividend by 81% to R21.30 per share.

The miner’s shares steadied in Johannesburg trading, after falling 25% this year. –