South Africa's Valterra Platinum said on ‌Wednesday it is owed $100 million in 2025 export proceeds by Zimbabwe's government, which has started making some payments to ​clear the arrears.

Zimbabwe requires all exporters to retain only 70% of their proceeds in foreign currency, with ​the balance ​being converted to local currency.

Valterra and its platinum industry peers have faced delayed payments from the government under the retention rule, according to Zimbabwe's mining chamber. The government has ⁠cited cash flow constraints for the delays.

Zimbabwe's Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ZIMBABWE MINE PRODUCES ABOUT 7% OF CONCENTRATE OUTPUT

"It's about $100 million that hasn't been able to be accessed by us," 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," Naidoo added.

Valterra's Unki mine in Zimbabwe produced 219,700 ⁠ounces of PGM concentrates in 2025, about 7% of the group's total contentrate output last year.

EARNINGS DOUBLED IN 2025

Valterra on Wednesday said its full-year headline earnings doubled to 16.7 billion rand ($1.05 billion) in 2025, driven by higher platinum prices and operational cost reductions, sending its shares up more than 10%.

The earnings for the period were boosted by a 26% price increase for the platinum group metals basket, as well as 5 billion rand worth of operational cost savings.

The company, which was demerged from the Anglo American group last year, declared a ‌final dividend of 43 rand per share, bringing its total payouts ⁠for 2025 to 12 billion rand.

Spot platinum prices more than ​doubled in 2025 and hit a record $2,757.69 an ounce on January 26, driven by tight supply and rising investment demand for precious metals.

The price of platinum, which is used to make catalytic converters that ​curb vehicle ‌emissions, is also being driven up by the European Union's U-turn on ⁠a 2035 combustion-engine ban.

($1 = 15.9238 rand)