South32 reports production figures, cuts Australia Manganese guidance

(Alliance News) - South32 Ltd on Tuesday reported mixed production results in the third quarter ...

Alliance News 21 April, 2026 | 11:49PM
Email Form Facebook Twitter LinkedIn RSS

(Alliance News) - South32 Ltd on Tuesday reported mixed production results in the third quarter of financial year 2026 and cut full-year guidance for its Australia Manganese operation.

The Perth, Australia-based mining company has left guidance for all of its operations unchanged, apart from Australia Manganese where the company continues to deal with elevated site water levels alongside the impacts of wet season rainfall and Tropical Cyclone Narelle during the three months ended March 31.

Australia Manganese full-year guidance for financial 2026 has been revised down by 6% to 3.0 million wet metric tonnes, compared to 1.1 million wmt in the previous year.

Chief Executive Officer Graham Kerr said: "Our teams delivered several strong operating results in the March quarter...Our strong balance sheet leaves us well placed to manage short-term volatility in global markets, while continuing shareholder returns and investing in high quality growth options to increase our production of copper, zinc and silver."

Alumina production at 86%-owned Worsley Alumina declined by 5.8% to 886,000 tonnes in the third quarter from 941,000 tonnes a year earlier, with sales down 8.1% at 836,000 tonnes from 910,000 tonnes.

Alumina production at 36%-owned Brazil Alumina increased by 8.3% to 351,000 tonnes from 324,000 tonnes, with sales 3.1% higher at 333,000 tonnes from 323,000 tonnes.

Aluminium production at 40%-owned Brazil Aluminium fell 8.3% to 33,000 tonnes from 36,000 tonnes, with sales down 13% at 27,000 tonnes from 31,000 tonnes.

Aluminium production at 100%-owned Hillside Aluminium edged up 0.6% to 176,000 tonnes from 175,000 tonnes, with sales down 7.6% at 158,000 tonnes from 171,000 tonnes.

Aluminium production at 64%-owned Mozal Aluminium declined 25% to 65,000 tonnes from 87,000 tonnes, with sales down 6.9% at 67,000 tonnes from 72,000 tonnes.

Payable copper equivalent production at 45%-owned Sierra Gorda was unchanged at 20,200 tonnes. Payable copper production edged down 0.6% to 16,900 tonnes from 17,000 tonnes, with sales down 9.5% at 15,300 tonnes from 16,900 tonnes.

South32 reported mixed performance at 100%-owned Cannington with payable zinc equivalent production down 8.4% at 44,800 tonnes from 48,900 tonnes.

Payable zinc production fell 17% to 9,100 tonnes from 11,000 tonnes and sales fell 8.3% to 8,800 tonnes from 9,600 tonnes.

Payable silver production fell 8.9% to 1.9 million ounces from 2.1 million ounces, with sales down 65% at 882,000 ounces from 2.5 million ounces.

However, payable lead production edged up 0.6% to 17,800 tonnes from 17,700 tonnes, while sales dropped 53% to 9,300 tonnes from 19,800 tonnes.

At 60%-owned Australia Manganese, South32 reported manganese ore production of 589,000 wet metric tonnes versus none previously, with sales at 868,000 wmt.

Manganese ore production at 55%-owned South Africa Manganese grew 5.0% to 500,000 wmt from 476,000 wmt and sales rose 23% to 501,000 wmt from 407,000 wmt.

South32 shares ended 0.8% lower at 231.40 pence each in London on Tuesday before the release of its production figures.

By Elijah Dale, Alliance News senior reporter Asia-Pacific

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Email Form Facebook Twitter LinkedIn RSS

Securities Mentioned in Article

Security Name Price Change (%) Morningstar
Rating
South32 Ltd 231.40 GBX -0.77
South32 Ltd 4.48 AUD 1.59

About Author

Alliance News

Alliance News provides Morningstar with continuously updating coverage of news affecting listed companies.

© Copyright 2025 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Terms of Use        Privacy Policy        Modern Slavery Statement        Cookie Settings        Disclosures