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Kumba's improved rail performance allows South Africa to haul more iron ore into port

Kumba Iron Ore, South Africa, reported on Tuesday a 12% rise in mineral shipped to ports in the third quarter of the year on the backs of improved freight rail performance. This led to a 7% increase in quarterly sales.

Anglo American delivered 10,2 million metric tonnes to Saldanha Port in the third quarter. This compares to 9,1 million metric tonnage during the same time period last year.

Kumba's sales totaled 9.6 million tons during the third quarter. This is up from 9 million tons.

Kumba, Africa’s largest iron ore mining company, stated in a recent production update that improvements to the freight rail network are mainly attributed to the ongoing cooperation between bulk mineral producers, and the state-owned logistics firm Transnet, to restore the ore shipping corridor.

Kumba's iron ore on-mine stockpiles decreased to 5.5 millions metric tonnes from 6.4million metric tons in the month of June due to improved rail performance. Stockpiles at the port increased from 1 million to 1.8 millions metric tonnes at the end September.

Transnet's problems, blamed for under-investment, cable theft, and vandalism, forced Kumba, a miner, to reduce their production in order to match Transnet's reduced capacity.

Transnet reported an increase of 5% in its freight volume after moving 160 millions metric tons during the year ending March 2025. It aims to haul 180 million metric tonnes in the current financial period.

Kumba's annual sales are expected to be at the higher end of its unchanged forecast for sales and production between 35 and 37 million tons. (Reporting and editing by Conor Humphries; Nelson Banya)

(source: Reuters)