Africa’s Minor Ore Powerhouse

South Africa stands as a global leader in the global manganese market, underpinned by vast reserves and steadily rising production. According to Mining Decisions, the country holds an estimated 77% of the world’s known land-based manganese resources, primarily concentrated in the Kalahari Manganese Field near Kuruman. In terms of output, South Africa accounted for approximately one-third of global production in 2024, mining 7.4 million tonnes (Mt)—up from 6.0 Mt in 2007, official figures show.

Historically, manganese’s primary use has been in steelmaking (around 90%). However, the metal’s strategic value is now increasing further amid the global transition to greener steel and electric vehicles, where high-purity manganese is essential for battery manufacturing. South Africa’s manganese ore — graded between 33% and 52% — offers a competitive advantage over lower-grade international alternatives.

However, despite its scale, South Africa processes only a small fraction of its manganese ore domestically. The International Manganese Institute estimates that just 2% of ore is locally refined into alloys, with the remaining 98% exported as raw material. A 2019 review noted that 80% of manganese ore is shipped out without beneficiation, representing a missed opportunity for value-added manufacturing and job creation. This comes amidst wider concerns in the African continent to lobby for foreign investment to produce and export higher[1]value products, as seen in the case of Guinean bauxite.

To address this, the South African government is pushing for structural change. The newly approved Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy classifies manganese — alongside chrome, platinum, iron ore, and coal — as a “high-critical” mineral. The strategy seeks to encourage domestic value addition through targeted incentives research and development, and the creation of beneficiation hubs.

These policy efforts also aim to curb the export of unprocessed ore. In March 2025, Minister Mantashe announced that government discussions were underway to implement export controls, such as taxes or quotas, to incentivise local alloy production, particularly for manganese and chromite ore. The proposal reflects lessons from past efforts in the chrome and ferroalloy sectors, where 30 of South Africa’s 59 chrome furnaces were offline by 2019, according to Shanghai Metals Market. While the chrome sector has since improved — 3.3 Mt of ferrochrome was produced domestically from a global total of 17.5 Mt, according to Merage Resources — the same beneficiation trend has yet to emerge for manganese. Infrastructure constraints have further complicated progress. South African rail company Transnet currently transports 14.4 Mt of manganese ore annually, with plans to expand this to 18.0 Mt over the next three years. However, rail bottlenecks and port limitations remain significant barriers to growth.

With South Africa supplying a major share of global manganese and chrome ore — 11.3 Mt from January to April 2025, up 0.6 Mt year-on-year — such a rollout of beneficiation-focused policies would disrupt the established international supply chains. China, which imported 8.1 Mt of South African manganese and chrome ore during the same Jan—Apr 2025 period, could face raw material shortages at its downstream smelters. In response, Chinese silico-manganese producers may increasingly turn to alternative suppliers such as Gabon and Mozambique, seeking to diversify sourcing and mitigate risks tied to South African supply constraints, though it is unlikely that these volumes could be entirely substituted. Whether these planned reforms are put into action still remains to be seen, but the intention is clear: elevate manganese from raw material export to a strategic national asset.

By Vriddhi Khattar, Dry Bulk Analyst, Research.