Australia's South32 beats estimates for fourth-quarter manganese output, shares rise
- Fourth-quarter manganese output beats analysts' estimates
- Export shipments start at Australia Manganese after storm delays
- FY EBITDA loss of $100 mln–$120 mln seen in Australia Manganese
- Shares rise 2.8%, outperforming mining sub-index
South32 
S32 reported a bigger-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter manganese ore production on Monday, helped by resumption of export shipments from its Australian manganese operations following storm delays, sending its shares nearly 3% higher.
The company's Groote Eylandt Mining Co project in the Northern Territory faced severe storms in early 2025, making it difficult to get production back on track after a tropical cyclone damaged the site's vital infrastructure a year ago.
"Australia Manganese successfully resumed export shipments during the quarter, marking a significant recovery from the impacts caused by Tropical Cyclone Megan," the company said in a statement.
The Perth-based diversified miner said it expects its Australia manganese operation to post a loss of $100 million to $120 million in operating earnings in fiscal 2025, following a restart after disruptions from Tropical Cyclone Megan.
Shares of South32 rose as much as 2.8% to A$2.97 by 0133 GMT, outperforming a 0.3% fall in the broader mining sub-index XXMM.
The world's largest producer of manganese, which is used to improve the quality and strength of steel, reported an output of 1.1 million wet metric tons (wmt) of manganese for the June quarter, up from 534,000 wmt a year earlier, and beating a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 850,000 wmt, as per Barrenjoey.
Last week, South32 flagged an impairment to its Mozal aluminium smelter in Mozambique and said its production was under review as it had not been able to secure affordable power prices after March 2026.
The miner said it was reviewing its plan for the Cannington silver-lead-zinc mine in Queensland due to increasing underground complexity, and that it would provide an update along with its fiscal 2025 results.
"Operationally a strong quarter, however the more marginal assets of Cannington and Mozal are likely to see negative valuation revisions at the FY25 results in August, based on company commentary," analysts at Jefferies said in a note.
