Eramet's shares slide as Gabon plans manganese ore export ban

PARIS (Reuters) -Shares in Eramet fell sharply on Monday after Gabon announced an export ban on unrefined manganese from 2029, potentially upending the French mining group's massive export-orientated production of the steel ingredient in the West African country.

Gabon's plan, announced by the government in a weekend statement, comes as several African countries - including Guinea with bauxite, Zimbabwe with lithium, and Mali and Tanzania with gold - seek to move from exporting raw material to local processing.

Demand for manganese, used in steel production and increasingly in electric vehicle batteries, has grown globally. Eramet is the main shareholder in Gabon-based manganese mining firm Comilog, whose Moanda mine is the world's biggest for manganese.

Eramet said in a statement that it noted the Gabonese government's intention to ban crude manganese exports from January 1, 2029 and would continue to work with the authorities "in a spirit of constructive partnership and mutual respect".

The group will aim to safeguard the 10,460 Gabonese jobs sustained by Comilog and Comilog railway transport unit Setrag, it added.

Eramet shares fell as much as 5.5% before paring losses to trade about 4% lower by 0800 GMT.

President Brice Oligui Nguema, who ousted former president Ali Bongo in a coup in 2023 before being elected last month, is seeking to unite Gabon and reboot an embattled economy

The West African oil exporter holds some of the world's richest manganese deposits, primarily operated by Comilog, as well as by Chinese companies, that export to China, Europe and America.

Comilog, in which Gabon holds a minority stake, processes some manganese locally but mostly exports its ore.

The Moanda mine, and the Weda Bay nickel mine in Indonesia, have driven Eramet's growth in recent years while its historic nickel operation in New Caledonia has been drained by losses and social unrest.

In Indonesia, which previously banned nickel ore exports to develop a local industry, Eramet last week signed a memorandum of understanding with sovereign fund Danantara to study potential investments in nickel processing.

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq, Gus Trompiz, Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; additional reporting by Alban KacherEditing by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Kirsten Donovan)