Chrome and platinum group metal (PGM) miner Tharisa reported a slight improvement in its second-quarter operational performance on Thursday.
PGM production was up 8.7% to 32,500oz for the three months to end-March, while chrome output was unchanged at about 381,000 tonnes.
The moderate improvement allowed Tharisa to capture the slightly higher PGM prices in the first three months of this year, when prices rallied on weaker recycling supply and the continued decline in output from SA’s mines.
However, the price recovery came to an abrupt end when US President Donald Trump announced sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” last week, including a 25% tariff on all automotive imports into the country.
The restrictions on global carmakers immediately resulted in lower and more volatile near-term demand for PGMs, which are used in the production of catalytic converters for internal-combustion engines.
On Tuesday, Trump announced a pause to the global tariffs, possibly easing the pressure on vehicle trade, but the trade war and its effect on the outlook for global economic growth are far from over.
Tharisa CEO Phoevos Pouroulis warned that the uncertain and volatile environment may hurt demand for the group’s commodities because, “while both PGMs and chrome are not subject to US tariffs, the intermediate and final products containing these commodities will be”.
The second quarter rebound also comes off a low base, and the group’s PGM and chrome output volumes for the six months to end-March were below those of the previous comparable period.
It was “a solid quarter, dampened by unprecedented rainfall and weather interruptions, which necessitated higher-than-budgeted in-pit evacuations in line with safety protocols and thus affected mining mix and volumes”, said Pouroulis, adding that lightning disruptions hit a record high during the period.
Despite the uncertain geopolitical climate, the miner was hopeful that the drier winter months that lie ahead would help to avoid similar disruptions and lead to more normal production in the second half.
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