The Perth headquartered mining and metal company, South32, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with secondary listings on the Johannesburg and London Stock Exchanges, reported that during the fiscal year ending in June, there had been three consecutive annual production records achieved, demonstrating significant growth in aluminium, copper, and manganese output. In Australia, financial years run from 1 July to 30 June the following year.
Graham Kerr, the CEO of South32, said, “We had a strong finish to the year, with group copper equivalent production growing 9 per cent in the quarter. Our strong operating results included record annual production at Hillside Aluminium, Australia Manganese and South Africa Manganese. Aluminium production increased by 14 per cent and base metals production by 17 per cent in the 2023 financial year, supported by our recent investments in commodities critical to a low-carbon future.”
In the year, aluminium production witnessed a significant upswing of 14 per cent compared to the previous financial year, reaching a total of 1.13 million tonnes. Out of this, 286,000 tonnes were delivered in the fourth quarter alone, reflecting a 3 per cent increase compared to the previous quarter.
Aluminium production reached new heights due to the exceptional output from the Hillside aluminium smelter and a significant increase in production from aluminium smelter in Brazil following the successful restart of all three potlines.
However, alumina production declined by 4 per cent, reaching 5.1 million tonnes. During the fourth quarter, there was a slight improvement as production increased by 1 per cent compared to the previous quarter, amounting to 1.2 million tonnes.
In the quarter, South32 observed a 4 per cent decline in full-year saleable production at Worsley Alumina compared to the remarkable levels achieved in 2022. However, quarterly production saw a notable 12 per cent increase during the same period. This boost was attributed to enhanced calciner availability, enabling production rates above the standard capacity. Nevertheless, a temporary bauxite conveyor outage somewhat counteracted this positive trend.
Manganese production reached 5.6 million tonnes for the year ending in June, representing a 4 per cent increase compared to the previous financial year. In the fourth quarter alone, production surged by 15 per cent compared to the preceding quarter, totalling 1.4 million tonnes.
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