Zimbabwe’s sole minerals marketing agent sold a total 1,9 million metric tonnes (mt), valued at US$1,5 billion in the first half of 2024 – missing first half revenue and volume projections, it has emerged.
MMCZ’s Acting General Manager Dr. Nomusa Moyo reported that while the Corporation had aimed to sell 2 million mt valued at US$2.030 billion, declines in global mineral led to 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,” said Dr. Moyo.
She highlighted that depressed mineral commodity prices for some of Zimbabwe’s top revenue contributors significantly impacted performance in the first half of 2024.
“Lithium was down 72%, nickel 20%, coal 13%, and coke 39%, translating to significant price declines compared to budget forecasts. However, year-over-year price increases were observed for platinum as it firmed 6%, rhodium 6%, copper 16%, fluorite 2% and chrome concentrates 4%, these were not enough to offset the negative impact on overall revenue,” she said.
Top three contributors H1 24 The top three contributors in terms of value in the first six months of 2024 were Platinum Groups Metals (PGMs) matte, PGMs concentrate and Zimbabwe’s primary lithium export, spodumene.
PGMs matte accounted for 31.8% of the Corporation’s mineral revenue in the first half with 18 844mt of matte valued at US$479 million being sold.
A total of 85 407mt of concentrates valued at US$294 million were exported in the period under review.
Dr. Moyo reported a mixed performance for sales in the first half of the year compared to the same period last 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 ongoing weakness in PGM prices impacted overall sales value, Dr. Moyo expressed optimism over firming gold prices which have been offsetting depressed trends in the PGMs group. Spodumene sales significantly outperformed expectations in the first half of 2024.
The Corporation achieved a total value of US$233,017 from 331,826Mt sold. This surpassed the budgeted target of US$105,000 from 275,000Mt, reflecting a substantial increase in both volume 21% and value 122%.
