South32's shares on the Australian Securities Exchange climbed sharply on Thursday, attaining their highest valuation since mid-April 2023. This bullish market response followed the company announcing a marked increase in manganese production during the December quarter, which bolstered its overall second-quarter performance and reinforced confidence in its annual production targets.
Australian manganese operations recovered from prior disruptions, achieving normalized output levels that translated to a 26% increase, totaling 806,000 wet metric tonnes (kwmt) for the quarter. Concurrently, manganese production in South Africa advanced by 4%, reaching 506,000 kwmt.
Shares of South32 rose by nearly 5% to A$4.38, reflecting investor optimism driven by these production gains.
On the cost front, the company reported that first-half operating unit expenses were generally aligned with, or fell below, the projections set forth in its guidance across the majority of its assets, signaling effective cost discipline.
Within the alumina sector, output for the half-year climbed 3%, propelled by record production levels at the Brazil Alumina operation and consistent planned volumes from Worsley Alumina. Aluminium production also rose by 2%, as operations at Hillside Aluminium approached maximum technical capacity during ongoing testing procedures.
At the Cannington mine, payable zinc-equivalent production surged 13% in the December quarter, a result of enhanced ore grades and increased processing rates.
Despite these positive outcomes, South32 indicated that the production guidance for its non-operated Brazil Aluminium asset is currently undergoing reassessment after delivering volumes below initial quarterly expectations.