The Logistics Group (TLG), a logistics and private port terminal operator, has built a bulk storage facility at the Port of Saldanha, South Africa. 

The Saldanha Dry Bulk Terminal is a storage facility designed to handle 100 tons per wagon, which is a significant increase compared to the current 63-ton capacity of existing operations in the area. This facility will store both iron ore from Sishen and manganese from the Kalahari Manganese Fields. The primary objective of this facility is to reduce the number of trains required on the line once it becomes operational.  

The Kalahari manganese fields are located almost 1,000km from designated ore ports in any one direction. Transnet, South Africa’s state-owned company, operates the railway corridors responsible to exporting the ore from the mines to ports such as Saldanha, Gqeberha, and more recently, East London. Volumes transported by Transnet have declined over the recent year, due to ongoing issues, including vandalism and a shortage of locomotives. According to Stats SA, rail payload for the three months ending in August 2023 increased by 0.3%, while road payloads decreased by 4% compared to the previous three months. This decline in road volumes was largely attributed to the expansion of rail capacity, as emerging miners did not make use of their allocated rail resources. To meet the demand of transporting 28Mt of manganese annually by the 2025/26 fiscal year, Transnet Port Terminals is utilising the ports of Saldanha, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, and potentially Richards Bay and Durban to alleviate export bottlenecks – although Durban and Richards Bay themselves have been experiencing long truck queues as material is unable to leave the port at the demand rate.  

The global manganese market has experienced an oversupply in 2023. China’s projected economic recovery only materialised near the end of September, as the Chinese government sought to stimulate the economy, boosting steel manufacturing. Even so, manganese ore spot prices remained low, exacerbated by the depreciating RMB, and very high ore port stocks. For South African producers, ore exports increased 21% q-on-q, despite Transnet’s logistical challenges, and higher transport costs.