SOUTH Africa’s Valterra Platinum is owed $100m in unpaid export proceeds by Zimbabwe’s government even as Harare has begun making partial payments to clear the arrears, said Reuters on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe requires exporters to convert 30% of their foreign currency proceeds into local currency, a retention rule that has resulted in delayed payments to Valterra and other platinum producers, according to the country’s mining chamber. The government has cited cash flow constraints.
“It’s about $100m that hasn’t been able to be accessed by us,” Valterra CFO Sayurie Naidoo told analysts during a results call. “We have been engaging with Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank as well as the Ministry of Finance, and we are receiving some funds in 2026 so far, and we do expect to receive that over the next couple of months.”
Valterra’s Unki mine in Zimbabwe produced 219,700 ounces of PGM concentrates in 2025, representing about 7% of the group’s total concentrate output, said Reuters.
The disclosure came as Valterra reported a doubling of full-year headline earnings to R16.7bn for 2025, driven by a 26% rise in platinum group metals basket prices and R5bn in operational cost savings. The results sent shares up more than 10%.
The company, which was demerged from Anglo American last year, declared a final dividend of R43 per share, bringing total 2025 payouts to R12bn.
Spot platinum prices more than doubled in 2025, hitting a record $2,757.69 an ounce in January, supported by tight supply, rising investment demand and the European Union’s reversal of its planned 2035 ban on combustion engines — a development that has bolstered the longer-term outlook for the metal used in catalytic converters, said Reuters.