Manganese producers line up to bid for new Ngqura export terminal

African Rainbow Minerals, through its manganese business Assmang, has joined a consortium of major South African manganese producers from the Northern Cape's Kalahari manganese field bidding to design, build and operate a new export terminal at the Port of Ngqura. The project would relocate and consolidate manganese exports currently handled at the ageing Port Elizabeth terminal, initially targeting capacity of 16 million tonnes a year, with room for further expansion.

Transnet is expected to issue formal bid invitations for the concession around April 2026, with evaluation of consortium proposals and a concession award targeted for 2026-2027. Construction and commissioning would follow later in the decade, subject to financing and regulatory approvals. One logistics analyst described the initiative as "a test case for private sector participation in port infrastructure," suggesting the model could be replicated across other South African mineral export corridors if the Ngqura project succeeds.

Why Port Elizabeth needs replacing

South Africa is the world's largest manganese exporter, commanding more than a third of the global seaborne manganese trade, and exported a record 26.2 million tonnes in 2025. But that growth has increasingly strained the ageing bulk terminal at Port Elizabeth, which was not designed for current volumes and has become a bottleneck for producers trying to get ore from the Northern Cape to ship. Consolidating exports at Ngqura, a deeper, more modern port within the Coega Industrial Development Zone, would give producers more reliable vessel turnaround times and room to grow.

A long runway before the ore actually flows

Even if Transnet awards the concession on schedule, manganese producers should not expect the new terminal to be moving ore before the end of the decade, given the scale of construction involved and the multi-year evaluation and approval process still ahead. In the meantime, Port Elizabeth will continue to handle the bulk of South Africa's manganese exports, meaning any near-term growth in shipments still depends on Transnet's ability to keep the existing terminal running reliably.

Sources

• The Assay: African Rainbow Minerals joins bid for strategic Ngqura manganese export terminal, 06 Mar 2026

Photo: The Coega Industrial Development Zone near Ngqura, South Africa, site of the proposed new manganese export terminal. Wizzy, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.