South African state-owned logistics company Transnet showed a record achievement of 9.7Mt of manganese ore moved in 2023 via its Hotazel–Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) railway export line.

The rail utility boasted that it has more than doubled exports along the dedicated manganese rail corridor over the last decade. According to trade statistics, however, the Gqeberha port accounted for less than 50% of manganese exports from South Africa in 2023.

An average 20Mtpy of manganese ores and concentrates have been exported from South Africa since 2019, up from less than 10Mtpy prior to 2014. The ramp-up in exports has come from South African manganese mines being the main growth source of manganese feeding the Asian steel industry, which accounted for 90% of ore imports from South Africa in 2022 (up from 75% in 2010).

The Hotazel–Gqeberha railway export line is the designed logistics route to support the development of the remote inland Kalahari Manganese Fields. However, the rail capacity has clearly not been able to keep pace with growing demand. While the port in Gqeberha still accounts for around two-thirds of total manganese ore exports from South Africa, over 25% of ores now arrive at the port via trucking routes, rather than rail.

In addition, the hungry Asian demand for South African ores has seen manganese ores leave South Africa from nearly all available ports. Since 2014, manganese ores have piggy-backed on capacity on the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore railway, accounting for over 20% of manganese ores leaving the country in 2022. Since 2019, manganese miners have also started using logistic routes via Namibia, illustrating the continued requirement from consumers to get South African manganese to market.

While Project Blue forecasts the Chinese steel market to maintain its current plateau, other Asian markets are expected to fill the gap in future crude steel production growth and will continue to support the movement of additional South African manganese ores.