Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore arm has publicly confirmed a force majeure from South African rail and port services company Transnet SOC due to a strike action by its unions.
The miner said it was notified on 7 October, and the interruption is expected to impact its production to the tune of about 50,000 tonnes per day for the first seven days and about 90,000 t/d thereafter.
Its export sales, it added, could be cut by 120,000 t/d.
Despite the estimates, Anglo said it has implemented contingency plans to safeguard its assets and to minimise impact on operations.
“Kumba will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide further updates, as appropriate. The company’s production and sales report for the third quarter of 2022 is scheduled for release on 27 October 2022,” officials noted.
Anglo owns almost 70% of Kumba, which is considered to be one of the world’s largest operations of its kind. The complex exports most of its iron ore, which had been estimated whole-year 2022 to total about 38 million tonnes, to Europe, China, Japan and South Korea.
Source: Anglo American