By ETimes
…as spodumene sales shine bright spot in MMCZ’s mixed h1 results
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s Minerals Marketing Corporation (MMCZ) missed its first-half targets for 2024, selling 1.9 million metric tonnes of minerals worth US$1.5 billion. This represents a 6% volume shortfall and a 26% revenue miss compared to projections.
The decline is attributed to softening global commodity prices, particularly for lithium (down 72%), nickel (20%), coal (13%), and coke (39%). However, platinum, rhodium, copper, fluorite, and chrome concentrates saw year-over-year price increases.
The top three contributors to MMCZ’s revenue were Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) matte, PGMs concentrate, and spodumene (lithium). Spodumene sales exceeded expectations, with a 21% volume increase and a 122% value increase compared to budgeted targets.
Despite the challenges, MMCZ Acting General Manager Nomusa Moyo expressed optimism about firming gold prices offsetting depressed PGM trends.
The Corporation aims to improve performance in the second half of 2024.