Iron ore majors ramp up supply even as China faces challenges
Iron ore is one of the year’s worst performing major commodities, slumping by almost a quarter as China’s property crisis drags on.
CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s main iron ore export railway line has been closed until Dec. 9 after a truck badly damaged a railway bridge, state-owned freight group Transnet said on Friday, sending shares in Kumba Iron Ore lower.
The Saldanha export line carries iron ore sourced mainly from Kumba mines from the Northern Cape province to the Saldanha port in the Western Cape.
Kumba said on Friday that it anticipated it would meet the lower end of its guidance of 43-44 million tonnes of total production and 42-44 million tonnes of total sales for 2018, despite the disruptions on the railway.
Its shares were down 2.1 percent at 1328 GMT, versus a 1.2 percent decline in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s mining index.
Transnet, which operates railway infrastructure, ports and pipelines, initially said that the repairs to the Saldanha line would take around 14 days.
(By Wendell Roelf and Alexander Winning; Editing by Joe Brock)
