Trafigura’s Nyrstar ships first antimony batch from Australia plant

Reuters | February 16, 2026 | 7:16 am Critical Minerals Australia Specialty Minerals

Nyrstar’s Port Pirie multi-metals processing facility has been in continuous operation for more than 130 years. Credit: Nyrstar

Trafigura unit Nyrstar has shipped its first consignment of commercial-grade antimony from its Port Pirie metals processing facility in South Australia, it said on Monday, a milestone in the country’s push to strengthen domestic supply chains for critical minerals.

The inaugural shipment from the facility will be supplied to a domestic manufacturer, the company said in a statement. Future cargoes are expected to be exported to customers in Europe, Asia and the US.

Antimony is used in defence applications, semiconductors, energy storage and automotive components. It has been identified as a priority critical mineral by Canberra and is part of the US–Australia critical minerals framework aimed at diversifying supply away from dominant producers.

Nyrstar, wholly owned by global commodities trader Trafigura, said the facility processed a wide range of local and global concentrates using its existing metals infrastructure.

Trafigura’s Nyrstar casts first antimony at South Australia plant

It has the potential to produce up to 5,000 tons of antimony per year, representing roughly 15% of global supply and nearly equivalent to total US imports in 2023.

The accelerated development of the demonstration plant was supported by the Australian and South Australian governments, the company added.

Nyrstar is exploring the production of other critical minerals such as bismuth and tellurium at Port Pirie and germanium at its Hobart zinc works.

(By Roshan Thomas; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)