Producer
South32
Australian diversified mining company (demerged from BHP in 2015); operates Worsley Alumina (WA, ~4.7 Mt/yr), Brazil Alumina (MINERACAO RIO DO NORTE stake), and South Africa Manganese; Worsley is a major seaborne alumina exporter
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Inputs supplied
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Goods downstream
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Facilities
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Stories
What they make
1 input South32 supplies
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Goods downstream
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What else they do
Business segments
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Alumina (Worsley & Brazil)
35%Manganese (South Africa & Australia)
25%Metallurgical Coal (Illawarra)
Silver, Lead & Zinc (Cannington)
15%Other Metals
5%
Intelligence
What's known
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Did you know2023
South32 produces manganese ore for traditional steel hardening (manganese is essential in all structural steel to prevent brittleness) AND is developing battery-grade manganese sulfate for high-manganese EV battery chemistries (LNMO, NMMC). The same Groote Eylandt manganese mine in Australia that provides ore for blast furnace steelmaking is being positioned to supply manganese for the batteries that will power the EVs reducing steel demand in automotive. South32 is simultaneously mining a material critical for traditional heavy industry steel AND positioning to supply the batteries competing to replace steel-dependent combustion engines. The Hotazel manganese complex in South Africa -- one of the world's largest manganese deposits -- feeds both steelmaking ferroalloys and emerging battery supply chains from the same ore bodies.
South32 Ltd. ↗Origin2023
South32 was created in 2015 when BHP Billiton spun off its lower-growth, lower-margin assets that did not fit BHP's strategic focus on copper, iron ore, and petroleum. The demerger created a company named 'South32' because all the assets were located in the Southern Hemisphere (Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Colombia). BHP's view was that these were secondary assets; investors who bought South32 shares at the demerger got significantly better returns than BHP in the subsequent decade as manganese (South32's largest segment) proved valuable for battery applications and silver prices surged. The company that BHP decided was not worth keeping generated substantial shareholder value precisely because the assets BHP deprioritized -- manganese, silver, alumina -- were critical inputs for the energy transition (batteries) and electronics that dominated the 2020s.
South32 Ltd. ↗