By Sharyn Macnamara
With a focus on the PGM’s, chrome, coal, copper and rare earth sectors; and with an audience of miners and smelters, as well as players in the agricultural sector and sugar mills, harbour and coal terminals and the paper and pulp sector – MTE is pulling its weight on the local front.
MTE Mooinooi Exhibition 2024: By the end of the second leg of the tour,
MTE had hosted a total of 622 visitors and 179 exhibiting companies. ©Mining and Technical Exhibitions (MTE)
Success in the PGMs-rich North West with the Mooinooi and Rustenburg combo tradeshow has paved the way for MTE’s annual copper focused Phalaborwa expo on 6 June 2024 in Limpopo, and the Richard’s Bay industrial showcase to follow on 13 June this year.
PGM’s and chrome tour triumph
Mining and Technical Exhibitions (MTE) experienced yet another mammoth week in the North West at the famous Mooinooi and Rustenburg MTE combo shows in the western limb chrome and platinum belt on 9 and 11 April 2023 respectively. The company hosted a total of 622 mining professionals and 55 and 124 exhibitors at the two shows respectively, showcasing the latest in mining tech and solutions. “And this despite the downswing in PGMs pricing in the market,” said Andrew Macnamara, operations director at MTE. “Although the rain in the morning at Mooinooi perhaps affected numbers on the day initially, many visitors were able to attend the Rustenburg show instead, and management were core to the 522 visitors on the Thursday leg of the show.”
The current PGM’s market
The dip in PGM’s pricing and the restructuring in local operations has no doubt affected the end-user appetite for and approach to spending, says Macnamara. Sibanye-Stillwaters’s CEO, Neal Froneman recently noted at the PGMs Industry Day held in Johannesburg in the same week that, “When the global demand mix does not match the global supply mix there is a material risk of: significant price volatility and long term demand destruction for specific metals due to substitution or alternative technologies.” The fact that PGMs are produced as a basket of metals and cannot be selectively extracted, further complicates matters. Froneman also noted at the event that there is light at the end of the long-term tunnel due to a few factors. Although some of the PGMs – especially platinum, ruthenium and iridium – have a significant non-auto underpin, the majority of PGM demand is derived from Auto’s and absolute light duty vehicle (LDV) demand is forecast to grow over the rest of this decade. Although transition to electric powertrains will inevitably continue, it will require the application of multiple technologies, with hybrids as an intermediate alternative. He also said that he foresees that increasing LDV demand and hence PGM demand is likely to coincide with falling interest rates, however on a negative note – primary PGM supply is likely to decline due to underinvestment in growth, and in the shorter-term, will experience possible closure of loss-making production. However, current recovery remains subdued in recycling supply.
“It all starts and ends in the market,” said Froneman, “with the understanding of the evolution of mobility necessary for the future relevance of the PGM industry.” He said that it is paramount that PGM suppliers get involved in developing and maintaining the PGM market. Although ongoing growth in BEV’s share of mobility is inevitable – it is moderating and PGM demand and supply over the last few years has in fact been relatively consistent, suggesting that current low PGM basket prices are driven mainly by de-stocking rather than structural changes.” He said that the PGM market demand to 2030 is solid, driven by ongoing demand from ICE, and with hybrids providing an emerging upside support. Also, longer term demand growth will be the result of the growing requirements for a hydrogen economy (currently favouring platinum, iridium and ruthenium) creating the need for substitution to avoid demand destruction. It would therefore be prudent to incorporate multiple mobility technologies and circularity into the market development mix, but it will be imperative to develop a stronger industrial underpin to reduce the dependence on the auto demand. “The alignment of future PGM demand ratios with supply ratios is critical for industry sustainability and the development of new applications for the full basket of metals will be necessary to drive more balanced demand trends and ensure optimal supply of the metal mix for future needs,” said Froneman. He made a point of saying that PGM’s are not precious metals, but they are rare, and with that in mind, they are significant for the future.
Macnamara points out that the company is looking forward to the networking opportunities to be had on 6 June in Phalaborwa as, “Things are really picking up on the copper front and there seems to be great interest in the existing dumps in the area when it comes.