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MMCZ misses first half targets as low PGM prices weigh

July 17, 2024

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HARARE – Zimbabwe’s sole minerals marketing agent sold 1.9 million metric tonnes (mt) worth US$1.5 billion in the first half of 2024, falling short of first-half revenue and volume projections due to depressed mineral commodity prices for some of Zimbabwe’s top revenue contributors.

MMCZ had planned to sell 2 million mt for US$2.030 billion; however, weakness in global mineral prices resulted in a 6% volume miss and a 26% revenue shortfall.

“During the same period last year, the Corporation sold 1,531,149 Mt valued at US$1.689 billion. This points to a 25% year on year increase in sales volumes and an 11 percent slump in value terms,” MMCZ’s Acting General Manager Nomusa Moyo said.

She added that lithium was down 72%, nickel 20%, coal 13%, and coke 39%, resulting in significant price declines compared to budget forecasts. Year-over-year price increases were observed for platinum, which firmed 6%, rhodium 6%, copper 16%, fluorite 2%, and chrome concentrates 4%, but these were insufficient to offset the negative impact on total revenue.

In the first six months of 2024, Platinum Groups Metals (PGMs) matte, PGMs concentrate, and Zimbabwe’s principal lithium export, spodumene, were the top three contributors by value.

PGM matte accounted for 31.8% of the Corporation’s mineral sales in the first half, with 18 844mt sold for US$479 million. During the study period, 85 407mt of concentrates worth US$294 million were shipped.

Spodumene sales greatly outpaced expectations in the first half of 2024, with the corporation achieving a total value of US$233,017 from 331,826Mt sold, exceeding the anticipated objective of US$105,000 from 275,000Mt, representing a considerable increase in both volume 21% and value 122%.

Moyo reported mixed sales results for the first half of the year compared to the same period previous year.

“Overall, concentrated sales volume grew by 30%, while their value increased by 2%. However, matte sales experienced a 7% volume increase, but a 5% decrease in value,” she said, attributing the volume rise across both categories to stock carried over from the previous period.

Noting that persistent PGM price weakness has had an influence on overall sales value, Moyo expressed confidence about rising gold prices, which have been offsetting poor trends in the PGMs category.