Moroccan miner Managem reports 20% rise in Q1 revenue
RABAT, May 26 (Reuters) - Morocco's largest mining group Managem (MNG.CS), opens new tab reported on Monday a 20% rise in its first-quarter revenue to 2.32 billion dirhams ($250 million), driven by higher gold, silver, copper, and cobalt prices.
The Casablanca-listed firm invested 1.5 billion dirhams in the first three months of 2025, with 65% allocated to its Tizert copper mine in Morocco and the Boto gold project in Senegal, Managem said in a statement.
Commercial production at both sites is expected to begin in the second half of the year, the company said.
Managem diversified its portfolio into the natural gas sector last year through the acquisition of Sound Energy's assets in eastern Morocco.
The company's debt rose to 11.9 billion dirhams by the end of March, up 13.6% from December 2024.
In 2024, Managem posted an annual revenue of 8.85 billion dirhams, up 18%, and a net profit of 620 million dirhams, up 17% year-on-year.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
14 hours ago
- The Independent
Drought, rising prices and dwindling herds undercut this year's Eid al-Adha in North Africa
Flocks of sheep once quilted Morocco's mountain pastures, stretched across Algeria's vast plateaus and grazed along Tunisia's green coastline. But the cascading effects of climate change have sparked a region-wide shortage that is being felt acutely as Muslims throughout North Africa celebrate Eid al-Adha. Each year, Muslims slaughter sheep to honor a passage of the Quran in which the prophet Ibrahim prepared to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, who intervened and replaced the child with a sheep. But this year, rising prices and falling supply are creating new challenges, breeders and potential buyers throughout the region say. At a market in suburban Algiers last week, breeders explained to angry patrons that their prices had increased because the cost of everything needed to raise sheep, including animal feed, transport and veterinary care, had grown. Slimane Aouadi stood watching livestock pens, discussing with his wife whether to buy a sheep to celebrate this year's Eid. 'It's the same sheep as the one I bought last year, the same look and the same weight, but it costs $75 more," Aouadi, a doctor, told The Associated Press. Amid soaring inflation, sheep can sell for more than $1,200, an exorbitant amount in a country where average monthly incomes hover below $270. Tradition meets reality Any disruption to the ritual sacrifice can be sensitive, a blow to religious tradition and source of anger toward rising prices and the hardship they bring. So Morocco and Algeria have resorted to unprecedented measures. Algerian officials earlier this year announced plans to import a staggering 1 million sheep to make up for domestic shortages. Morocco's King Mohammed VI broke with tradition and urged Muslims to abstain from the Eid sacrifice. Local officials across the kingdom have closed livestock markets, preventing customers from buying sheep for this year's celebrations. 'Our country is facing climatic and economic challenges that have resulted in a substantial decline in livestock numbers. Performing the sacrifice in these difficult circumstances will cause real harm to large segments of our people, especially those with limited incomes,' the king, who is also Morocco's highest religious authority, wrote in a February letter read on national television. Trucks have unloaded thousands of sheep in new markets in Algiers and the surrounding suburbs. University of Toulouse agro-economist Lotfi Gharnaout told the state-run newspaper El Moudjahid that Algeria's import strategy could cost between $230 and $260 million and still not even meet nationwide demand. Thinning pastures Overgrazing has long strained parts of North Africa where the population is growing and job opportunities beyond herding and farming are scarce. But after seven years of drought, it's the lack of rainfall and skyrocketing feed prices that are now shrinking herds. Drought conditions, experts say, have degraded forage lands where shepherds graze their flocks and farmers grow cereals to be sold as animal feed. With less supply, prices have spiked beyond the reach of middle class families who have historically purchased sheep for slaughter. Moroccan economist Najib Akesbi said shrinking herds stemmed directly from vegetation loss in grazing areas. The prolonged drought has compounded inflation already fueled by the war in Ukraine. 'Most livestock farming in North Africa is pastoral, which means it's farming that relies purely on nature, like wild plants and forests, and vegetation that grows off rainwater,' Akesbi, a former professor at Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine, said. For breeders, he added, livestock serve as a kind of bank, assets they sell to cover expenses and repay debts. With consecutive years of drought and rising feed costs, breeders are seeing their reserves drained. Pressed herders With less natural vegetation, breeders have to spend more on supplemental feed, Acharf Majdoubi, president of Morocco's Association of Sheep and Goat Breeders said. In good years, pastures can nourish nearly all of what sheep flocks require, but in dry years, it can be as low as half or a third of the feed required. 'We have to make up the rest by buying feed like straw and barley,' he said. Not only do they need more feed. The price of barley, straw and alfalfa -- much of which has to be imported -- has also spiked. In Morocco, the price of barley and straw are three times what they were before the drought, while the price of alfalfa has more than doubled. 'The future of this profession is very difficult. Breeders leave the countryside to immigrate to the city, and some will never come back,' Achraf Majdoubi said. __ Associated Press writers in Algeria contributed reporting.
Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
Falling LME copper stocks inflate premium for nearby contracts
LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - Concerns about the nearby supply of copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) due to falling stocks in LME-registered warehouses has created a premium for nearby contracts against those with longer maturities. The discounts for nearby LME copper contracts against longer dated forwards flipped into premiums a month ago as higher COMEX prices than on the LME continued to attract metal. The premium of the cash LME copper contract over benchmark three-month futures was last at $75 per ton after jumping to $93 on Thursday's close, highest in two and a half years. This compares with a discount of $63 in early April. "The backwardation indicates that there is some kind of a shortage. Because normally it is in contango," said Dan Smith, managing director at Commodity Market Analytics. Total copper stocks in the LME warehouse system have halved since mid-February to 132,400 tons, the lowest in almost a year. Available stocks, those not marked for delivery, at 54,600 tons are the lowest since July, 2023. The sharp move in the spread on Thursday was caused by fresh cancellations in LME stocks, said Alastair Munro, senior base metals strategist EMEA, at broker Marex. The premium eased on Friday as there were no major new cancellations of warrants, title documents that confer ownership, in Friday's data, he said, even though stocks kept on leaving the LME-registered warehouses. Fuelling worries are recent mine supply disruptions and traders diverting copper metal to the U.S. while Washington investigates the potential for import tariffs on copper. Even though there is no dominant holder of the LME copper warrants ahead of the expiry of contracts on the third Wednesday of the month - something which could concern the market, as of June 4 one party held more than 90% of copper cash contracts, helping to keep the premium elevated.
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Botswana diamond giant Debswana slashes output as demand falls
Botswana's main diamond company has paused production at some of its mines, citing a prolonged downturn in global a joint venture between the government and global mining giant De Beers, saw its sales revenue drop by almost 50% last is the world's largest producer of diamonds by value. The industry accounts for a quarter of the country's total annual income (GDP), according to the International Monetary Friday, Debswana said production this year is being scaled back to 15 million carats - approximately a 40% decrease from its output in 2023. The company, which accounts for around 90% of Botswana's diamond sales expects this reduced output will lead to "significant cost savings" across areas like fuel and a statement, Debswana said it continued to "prudently navigate the challenging market conditions" citing low demand and "emerging pressures such as US-imposed tariffs".The global market for mined diamonds has been experiencing a decline since 2023, partly due to the availability of lab-grown response to this downturn, Debswana paused production at its flagship Jwaneng mine, as well as its Orapa mines, last month. Each mine will be closed for three months in southern African country has for decades been trying to shift its economy away from being dependent on diamond sales, to varying degrees of successive governments have boosted sectors such as tourism, finance and the mining of minerals such as copper, diamond sales still make up three-quarters of Botswana's foreign exchange income is likely to be hit by Debswana's decision to temporarily close its company has stressed that no involuntary job cuts are planned, although it continues to offer voluntary a result of the sustained downturn in the global diamond industry, Botswana will cut its 2025 economic growth forecast to almost zero, a senior finance official was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency. You may also be interested in: World's second-largest diamond found in BotswanaHow friends became foes in Africa's diamond state'Proud to be young' - Beauty queen, lawyer and Botswana's youngest cabinet minister Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
