By: Reuters

South Africa's Kumba Iron Ore KIOJ.J on Tuesday said half-year profit fell 41%, mainly due to a strong rand as well as lower prices for the steelmaking ingredient.

The Anglo American AAL.L unit's headline earnings per share came in at 13.24 rand ($0.79) in the six months ended June 30, compared to 22.26 rand during the same period last year.

Africa's top iron ore miner said its revenue declined 11% to 30.88 billion rand after the rand strengthened 11% against the U.S. dollar. Kumba also reported a 1% marginal decrease in the average realised price and lower sales volumes.

Its iron ore sales also dipped 1% to 18.6 million metric tons during the first half, while cash costs increased 18%, mainly driven by higher fuel, shipping and raw material expenses on the back of the Middle East conflict, which pushed mining input costs higher.

Kumba said sales to China, the top buyer of iron ore globally, declined to 53% during the first half of 2026, from 58% previously, in line with the company's strategy to diversify its customer base as the Asian giant's steel production remains weak.

China's crude steel production fell 3.1% year-on-year in the first half of the year, Kumba said.

Kumba's iron ore sales to Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries rose to 25% of total sales from 21% previously, while Europe remained flat at 21%.

Kumba declared an interim dividend of 7.90 rand per share, compared to last year's interim payout of 16.60 rand per share.

($1 = 16.7986 rand)

(Reporting by Nelson Banya and Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Kate Mayberry, Tom Hogue and Louise Heavens)