A slide in sales volumes and lower ferrochrome prices resulted in a big loss for International Ferro in the half year to December.
Revenues rose in the six months to R526m compared R367m last year, but were down 66% on the six months to June. Losses before tax came were R26.8m, up from R23.8m this time last year.
Production in the half fell slightly to 90,759 tonnes, but sales fell from 61,900 tonnes to 49,400 tonnes.
"The company has cut production, is controlling costs and conserving cash, but at the same time ensuring the operations are in good shape for the return of demand for ferrochrome," chief executive David Kovarsky said.
He added that market conditions appear to have begun to stabilise with ferrochrome inventories declining and spot prices stabilising, although large chrome ore stockpiles are a concern
The group added that its furnaces expected to be available to restart production from 1 April 2009, A slide in sales volumes and lower ferrochrome prices resulted in another big loss for International Ferro in the half year to December.
Revenues did rise in the six months compared with last year to R526m, from R367m, but were down 66% on the prior six months to June. Losses before tax came in at R26.8m, up from R23.8m this time last year.
Production in the half fell slightly to 90,759 tonnes, but sales fell from 61,900 tonnes to 49,400 tonnes.
"The company has cut production, is controlling costs and conserving cash, but at the same time ensuring the operations are in good shape for the return of demand for ferrochrome," chief executive David Kovarsky said.
He added that market conditions appear to have begun to stabilise with ferrochrome inventories declining and spot prices stabilising, although large chrome ore stockpiles are a concern
The group added its furnaces expected to be available to restart production, depending on market conditions, from 1 April 2009. A full ramp-up was possible within 4 weeks. Inventory level at 31 January 2009 was 33,338 tonnes.
No comments:
Post a Comment