Kumba expects production hit

Kumba expects to take a production hit due to Transnet force majeure, expecting production to drop by 90 000 tons per day in the long term and a loss of export sales of 120 000 tons per day.

Meanwhile, Sappi has beat expectations for their fourth quarter and further improved on a record 3rd quarter.

In other news, the United States jobs number came in stronger than expected, with 263 000 non-farm payrolls added. It raises the risk of another big interest rate hike.

Here is the biggest news of the day.

• Kumba expects to take a production hit due to Transnet’s Force Majeure. While the company has implemented contingency plans to protect its assets and minimize the impact on its operations, it still expects production to drop by 50 000 tons per day for the first 7 days and 90 000 tons per day after that. A loss of export sales is expected to amount to 120 000 tons daily.

• Sappi beats expectations for their 4th quarter and further improves on record 3rd quarter. The company previously guided to performance tapering down from a record 3rd quarter, while still being strong. Due to lower-than-expected realized European gas prices, the company was able to continue strong growth, with EBITDA for the 4th quarter topping the record number achieved in the 3rd quarter. The company’s full-year results are due on 10 November.

• US jobs number comes in stronger than expected. US non-farm payrolls showed 263 000 jobs added, topping consensus expectations of 255 000 jobs. However, there has been a steady decline in new jobs since it topped more than 600 000 in February. In August, the figure was 315 000 jobs. The US unemployment rate dropped from 3.7% to 3.5%, largely due to a drop in the participation rate. Wage growth came in at 0.3% month-over-month, or 5.0% year-over-year, in line with expectations.

• Anglo American appoints new De Beers CEO. Al Cook has been appointed as CEO of De Beers Group, while current CEO, Bruce Cleaver, has been promoted to Co-Chairman of De Beers Group. The change will take effect in early 2023.

• ExxonMobil takes a hit on Russian oil project. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Friday that establishes a new operator for the Sakhalin 1 project in Russia’s Far East, effectively removing Exxon as the operator and expropriating their 30% stake in the project. Other stakeholders in the project include Russian company Rosneft, India’s ONGC Videsh and Japan’s Sodeco. Oil production at the Sakhalin-1 project fell to just 10 000 barrels per day (bpd) in July from 220 000 bpd before Russia invaded Ukraine.