Transnet Freight Rail has had to suspend the 861km rail line between Sishen and Saldanha following the theft of cables.

Cable theft in South Africa has put pressure on the already struggling national rail utility, Transnet, and the recent incident sees the issue spread from the coal-chromium dominant supply route between Johannesburg and Durban.

The Saldanha port is South Africa’s principal iron ore terminal, accounting for an average 85% of the country’s iron ore exports, over 55Mtpy. Manganese has increasingly piggybacked on this supply route, capturing around 3-4% of rail capacity since 2016 as its own export logistics route via Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape has failed to keep pace with demand. Saldanha accounted for over 20% of manganese exports in 2022 for the first time – where the industry was able to benefit from lower iron ore movements and double its rail allocation for the year.

China’s steel production has witnessed a rebound in the first part of 2023, in anticipation of an economic recovery and ahead of the spring construction season. Steel production growth is likely to soften in coming months but nevertheless, further supply disruptions in South Africa will play an important role in the short-term port stock movements in China – more for manganese, as South Africa accounted for close to 50% of total manganese ore imports to China in 2022 and again year-to-date in 2023.