Kumba Iron Ore may lay off 490 employees

kumba iron ore may lay off 490 employees

Kumba Iron Ore may lay off 490 employees

Hammered by Eskom’s load shedding and logistics constraints under Transnet, Kumba Iron Ore is laying off 490 employees under a restructuring program that will see the Anglo American-owned company reduce its production from 2024 to 2026.

The logistical constraints and load shedding experienced during 2023 had raised the “cost of doing business in South Africa,” Kumba Iron Ore said on Tuesday.the company was now “re-configuring” its operations.

“The potential reconfiguration of our business is expected to impact 490 jobs including fixed-term employees across Kumba’s operations,” said Kumba Iron Ore chief executive, Mpumi Zikalala.

The company was now embarking on Section 189A processes involving consultations with trade unions and affected employees.

The company had already streamlined office-based roles in 2023 and, it said, “given the required change to our production footprint in the medium term, we do also need to reconfigure” the size of the workforce.

Kumba Iron Ore said it has together with other members of the Ore User’s Forum suffered significant losses due to derailments and logistics infrastructure and equipment failures over the past few years.

The issues had continued in the past year. In order to re-balance its value chain, the company had decided to “slowdown overall production in the fourth quarter of 2023” after “product stockpiles” peaked at unsustainable levels.

Resultantly, production for 2023 full year had fallen by 5.3% to 35.7 million tonnes although sales increased by 1.6% to 37.2 million tonnes compared to the previous year “when industrial action at Transnet disrupted rail and port” operations.

“Logistics challenges will, however, take some time to resolve and unless we act now to align our production and cost base to current logistics constraints, this business will not have the resilience it needs to deliver across its stakeholders.”

BUSINESS REPORT

News Related

OTHER NEWS

Volkswagen "very worried" about the future of its operations in SA

A senior Volkswagen executive involved in a global cost-cutting strategy said on Friday, 24 November, he was “very worried” about the future of the company’s operations in South Africa, which ... Read more »

Liz Truss backs Trump with call for Republican presidential victory

Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters Liz Truss, the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, who was famously shown to have a shorter shelf life than a lettuce, has effectively backed Donald Trump ... Read more »

Standard Bank treasonous? We're literally helping to keep the lights on says CEO

Standard Bank treasonous? We're literally helping to keep the lights on says CEO Bruce Whitfield speaks to Lungisa Fuzile, Standard Bank SA CEO. Standard Bank is one of 28 banks ... Read more »

Israel, Hamas agree to extend truce for two days; Musk ‘would like to help rebuild Gaza’

Israel, Hamas agree to extend truce for two days; Musk ‘would like to help rebuild Gaza’ The UN said many people in Gaza still had no food or cooking fuel ... Read more »

This is what Pitso Mosimane said about the African Football League

Mamelodi Sundowns’ former coach, Pitso Mosimane, dismissed the African Football League Jingles shared his opinion and compared it to the CAF league and said that it was a mere tournament ... Read more »

Take note of these N3 road works between Westville and Paradise Valley

Take note of these N3 road works between Westville and Paradise Valley The N3 between the Westville viaduct and Paradise Valley interchange will be partially closed to traffic for the ... Read more »

UKZN medical student bags 2023 Health Excellence Rising Star Award

UKZN medical student bags 2023 Health Excellence Rising Star Award Durban — One of the country’s most progressive young minds in the medical field, fifth-year University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) medical ... Read more »
Top List in the World