COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Anglo's Kumba iron ore unit says private investors could help ease rail bottlenecks



Anglo American's South African iron ore unit said on Tuesday private investors could help fix South Africa's failing rail network as it continues to struggle with shipping products to ports for export.

Kumba Iron Ore said iron ore stockpiles at its mines swelled to 8.2 million metric tons in the first half of this year from 7.1 million during the same period last year as rail and port challenges worsen.



The rail line and the ports, managed by South Africa's state-owned Transnet, have over the years been beset by derailments and equipment failure.

The persistent logistics constraints will likely weigh on parent Anglo, which is restructuring its businesses after fighting off a $49 billion attempted takeover by the world's No. 1 miner, BHP Group (BHP.AX), opens new tab.

Anglo has said it wants to retain the South African iron ore business and maintain a presence in the country even as it spins off its platinum unit. It also plans to divest or sell its De Beers diamond business and its Australian steelmaking coal assets.



Kumba's headline earnings per share in the six months ended June 30 slumped 26% to 22.27 rand, hit by softer iron ore prices and the logistics challenges.

The miner declared an interim dividend of 18.77 rand per share.

-REUTERS-



Nigeria's Dangote refinery in talks with Libya to secure oil



Nigeria's Dangote refinery is in talks with Libya to secure crude for the 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) plant and will also seek Angolan oil, a senior executive said, as it seeks to overcome problems with domestic supplies.

The $20 billion refinery, built by Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote on the outskirts of Lagos is Africa's largest, and is designed to end Nigeria's dependence on imported fuels because of insufficient refining capacity.



Since Dangote began operations in January, it has been unable to get adequate crude supplies in Nigeria, which, although Africa's biggest oil producer, is struggling with theft, pipeline vandalism and low investment.

Dangote has resorted to importing crude from as far as Brazil and the United States.

"We are talking to Libya about importing crude," Dangote refinery senior executive Devakumar Edwin told Reuters late on Saturday. "We will talk to Angola as well and some other countries in Africa."



He declined to give detail about the talks, but said international traders and oil companies were among the biggest buyers of Dangote's gasoil, much of which was being exported.

"The biggest offtakers are the two big traders Trafigura and Vitol and BP and, to some extent, even TotalEnergies. But all of them are saying they are taking it to offshore," Edwin said.

Traders and shipping data have shown that Dangote is increasing gasoil exports to West Africa, taking market share from European refiners.

-REUTERS-



South32's SA manganese mines deliver record production in response to high prices



South32, a global diversified mining group, has reported record annual production out of its South African manganese mines.



The Northern Cape manganese operations responded to higher market prices and produced a record 2 175kwmt (thousand wet metric tonnes) for the full year ended in June, up from 2 108kwmt in the previous year. Production from South Africa helped to offset the production losses from South32’s Gemco mine in Australia’s Northern Territory, which remains shuttered after it was hit by a tropical cyclone in March this year. South32’s group manganese output for the year was, however, 20% lower as a result.



The loss of Gemco’s high-quality supply to the market has been the driver behind rocketing manganese price in the three months ended in June. South32 was spun out of BHP Billiton in 2015 and went on to sell off its South African Energy Coal business to Seriti Resources in 2021.

-NEWS24-



Google scraps plan to remove cookies from Chrome



Google is planning to keep third-party cookies in its Chrome browser, it said on Monday, after years of pledging to phase out the tiny packets of code meant to track users on the internet.



The major reversal follows concerns from advertisers — the company’s biggest source of income — saying the loss of cookies in the world’s most popular browser will limit their ability to collect information for personalising ads, making them dependent on Google’s user databases. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority had also scrutinised Google’s plan over concerns it would impede competition in digital advertising.



“Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time,” Anthony Chavez, vice president of the Google-backed Privacy Sandbox initiative, said in a blog post.



Since 2019, the Alphabet unit has been working on the Privacy Sandbox initiative aimed at enhancing online privacy while supporting digital businesses, with a key goal being the phase-out of third-party cookies. Cookies are packets of information that allow websites and advertisers to identify individual web surfers and track their browsing habits, but they can also be used for unwanted surveillance.

-TECHCENTRAL-