South32 remains in a strong position with the release of its September quarterly report today, maintaining its FY21 production guidance across all operations.
The company also delivered a US$70m increase in its cash position to reach a net cash balance of US$368m, a 23% lift from its FY20 US$298m.
South32 chief executive Graham Kerr said this quarter shows strong operating performance and a further strengthening of the company’s financial position despite the continued health crisis.
“We delivered a 19% increase in manganese ore production and a 22% increase in metallurgical coal production,” Mr Kerr said.
“During the quarter we continued our work to reshape and improve our portfolio, progressing the divestment of South Africa Energy Coal and entering into a binding agreement to divest interest in the TEMCO manganese alloy smelter.”
Australia Manganese production was 880kwmt, a 3% lift quarter-on-quarter, due to favourable ore characteristics supporting an improvement in primary concentrator output.
Illawarra produced 1863kt of metallurgical coal, compared to 1523kt last quarter, with the operation’s successful return to a three-longwall configuration.
Worsley Alumina achieved a 4% increase in hydrate production at 1010kt, with the hydrate circuit operating at a record 4.65mtpa.
Along with reorganising the leadership team and the company’s functional support structures, South32 plans to deliver an additional US$50m in savings from FY22 with its office footprint reductions in Singapore and London.