South32 CEO calls US metal tariffs a negotiating tactic

SOUTH32 CEO Graham Kerr played down the long-term impact of steel and aluminium tariffs installed by US president Donald Trump this month, saying they were more likely to be a negotiating tactic than a policy characteristic of the new US administration.“The challenge, I guess, with all the tariffs is how long does it last… To me, it’s a negotiation rather than a long term policy,” he told an earnings call in Australia on Thursday morning, reported on by Reuters.“The reality is, from our perspective, it probably won’t impact our product placement too much.” South32 produces aluminium in Brazil, South Africa and Mozambique, and sells a portion of its South African production to US markets, Kerr added.The company expects to produce 1.2 million tons of aluminium this year.South32 beat analysts’ estimates for the half year, reporting an over nine-fold surge in first-half profit to $375m, up from $40m a year earlier, driven by higher aluminium and copper sales and strong commodity prices, said Reuters. That beat a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of $370.1m.An uptick in aluminium prices, spurred by a constrained alumina market and supply deficit, led to the company’s aluminium division posting an increase in underlying operating earnings of $160m for the first half, said Reuters.Alumina prices however were expected to extend their fall to $400 to $500 a ton, Kerr said, as supply constraints in Guinea and Australia eased.Earnings for the copper division also increased by $98m, boosted by higher prices and lower labour costs.The Perth-based miner declared an interim dividend of 3.4 cents per share, compared with 0.4 cent a year earlier.South32 reinstated its production forecasts for fiscal 2026, and slightly lowered them for this year, for its Mozal Aluminium smelter in Mozambique. It had withdrawn the forecasts in December, following civil unrest in the country.The firm raised its full-year unit operating costs forecast for its Worsley Alumina project in Western Australia by 5%. It this week received federal approval to extend the life of those operations to at least 2036.Analysts at Citi called the earnings results “solid”, but said that cost pressures for the miner were still evident.However, South32 also trimmed its full-year group capital expenditure forecast, excluding exploration and intangibles, by about $105m.The post South32 CEO calls US metal tariffs a negotiating tactic appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com