South Africa's State-owned logistics operator Transnet said on Friday it has started the process of picking a private sector partner to develop and operate a new manganese export terminal for 25 years, as it seeks to expand the mineral's export capacity by 20%.

South Africa is the world's top manganese exporter, having shipped about 26-million metric tons in 2025, according to the Minerals Council.

Manganese is mostly used in steel manufacturing, but increasingly in battery technologies, which are vital for renewable energy.

Transnet, which currently handles about 16-million tons of South Africa's manganese exports annually through its freight rail system, is seeking a private sector partner to fund, develop, operate and maintain a new export corridor from mines in the Northern Cape to a new terminal at Ngqura, in the Eastern Cape.

The freight rail, ports and pipeline operator said in a statement it had issued a Request for Qualification to begin the process of selecting a strategic partner.

The new export terminal is expected to reduce the roughly 10-million tons of manganese exports a year which are hauled to ports by road.

Ngqura is about 20 km north-east of Port Elizabeth, which currently accounts for 65% of South Africa's manganese export capacity.

Transnet is increasingly relying on private sector participation after being constrained by years of underinvestment and insufficient government funding.

Approximately 95% of South Africa's manganese export volumes go to Asia, with China accounting for nearly 68% of all shipments, followed by India (16%), Singapore (3%), Malaysia (3%) and Japan (2%).