A 71% surge in PGM matte value to $1.5B came alongside a 52% drop in raw concentrate exports, proving a strategic pivot to domestic processing.

Sales volumes exceeded targets by 33%, but revenue only beat projections by 10%, exposing ongoing price vulnerability for raw materials.

While ferro-alloy volumes grew 19% and steel export value exploded 450%, lower diamond prices and coke competition show diversification's limits without deeper processing.

Harare- The Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ), the state marketer for the nation's non-precious metals(except gold and silver), released its financial year 2025 results, revealing a 14% increase in sales to US$3.4 billion. This growth, surpassing a US$3.2 billion target, is significant. However, the definitive story for analysts is not the top-line figure but the decisive strategic recalibration beneath it. The report, covering the year ended December 2025 and published in early 2026, shows MMCZ is actively engineering a transition from exporting price-volatile raw materials to capturing more value domestically before export.

The evidence is most striking in the Platinum Group Metals (PGM) sector. The corporation executed a clear, calculated trade-off. Exports of raw PGM concentrates plummeted 52% in volume and 44% in value compared to the previous year. Simultaneously, exports of higher-value, toll-processed PGM matte surged, generating US$1.5 billion from 37,194 metric tonnes, a 71% increase in value from the prior year. This pivot demonstrates that sacrificing short-term raw material sales can secure greater long-term revenue by moving a key processing step onshore. It directly boosts the foreign currency yield per tonne of resource extracted and provides a buffer against raw commodity price swings, contributing to improved national trade metrics.

The lithium sector narrative, however, underscores the urgency of extending this model. FY2025 saw lithium sales volumes crush targets, reaching 1,522,894 metric tonnes, a 33% surplus to the goal. However, the associated revenue of US$571.6 million only exceeded projections by 10%. This stark gap between volume success and value pressure highlights the persistent risk of remaining a raw material supplier. The corporation's own outlook notes an expected price recovery, but the lesson from the PGM success is operational: the established volume base must now serve as the foundation for investments in downstream processing to capture the higher-margin stages of the battery supply chain.

The broader performance confirms growth is robust but uneven, illustrating the multi-front nature of commodity trade. Ferro-alloy sales saw a 19% volume increase, and steel export value recorded a staggering 450% rise to US$92.1 million. These are strong diversifiers. Nevertheless, the report candidly notes that "value growth was partially constrained" by depressed diamond markets and competitive coke pricing, necessitating strategic discounts. Furthermore, chrome ore concentrate revenue fell 12% despite stable volumes, another reminder of the inherent price vulnerability of unprocessed ores.

In conclusion, MMCZ's US$3.4 billion year is a case study in strategic transition. The successful pivot in the PGM sector, moving from concentrate to matte, provides a tangible, revenue-positive template for national beneficiation. It is a major step beyond rhetoric. The challenge now is scalability. Applying this 'value-over-volume' logic to lithium and other sectors is the critical next phase. With a US$3.5 billion revenue target for 2026 underpinned by this strategy, MMCZ's trajectory suggests that improving Zimbabwe's trade balance will depend less on luck in commodity cycles and more on this deliberate, data-driven execution of value addition.

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