DRC coltan spot sample received at US$60/kg for 38% material

[SMM Tantalum Flash] A trading contact said on 9 October that it was still receiving Rwandan tantalum offers at “4.8+” and had bought no tantalum in the preceding few weeks. Other contacts in the supplied sample described offers above US$4 per kg per grade percentage point. The “4.8+” message did not restate its pricing unit, assay, delivery basis or the dates of the underlying offers. It is a received asking indication, not a transaction price. The contact said its Rwanda tin flows remained stable, but it had held off buying tantalum while considering air-freight economics and had shifted more attention to West Africa. It reported a Nigerian offer and expressed interest in a Sierra Leone trader; neither was described as a completed tantalum purchase. These conversations show how one buyer is responding to the offers, without establishing a representative Rwanda price or a wider change in trade flows.

South Africa’s high-carbon ferrochrome exports rose to 117,180 mt in August 2026, up 20.0% month-on-month from July’s restated 97,618 mt and around 45.8% higher than a year earlier, though still 5.0% below June’s 123,310 mt. Canada’s imports jumped from 1,054 mt to 26,373 mt, making it the largest destination, while the United States rose 128.0% to 26,029 mt. Together the two markets took 44.7% of exports, against 12.8% in July. China fell 27.5% to 20,505 mt, cutting its share to 17.5% from 29.0% and dropping it to fourth place, as weak demand and ample domestic supply limited its appetite; SMM data show Chinese ferrochrome supply grew 12.94% in the first half of 2026 while stainless-related chrome demand rose only 2.3%. South Korea rose 43.3% to 20,790 mt, while Japan fell 42.1% to 13,727 mt. Merafe expects the ramp-up of the restarted Wonderkop and Boshoek smelters to be fully complete towards the end of the year.

South Africa’s chrome ore exports fell to 2.36 million tonnes (2,363.8 kt) in August 2026, down 10.75% month-on-month from July’s restated 2,648.5 kt and below June’s 2.40 million tonnes, making August the weakest month in the April–August series. China took 1,674.4 kt, down 6.09%, but its share rose from 67.3% to 70.8% because exports to all other destinations combined fell 20.35%. Singapore was the only named destination to grow, rising 10.33% to 224.5 kt, while Indonesia fell 40.0% to 90.0 kt and “Others”, which now includes the UAE, fell 53.4% to 112.6 kt. The pullback traces to the Chinese side of the trade: port inventories stayed near or above 5 million tonnes (5.04 Mt on September 24), the market entered its consumption off-season, and weaker ferrochrome prices squeezed smelter margins. China Customs data show August arrivals from South Africa at 1.89 million tonnes, down 13.13% month-on-month.