Forbes Coal's Sep-Nov ROM production down 31% on year due to strike
London (Platts)--14Dec2012/935 am EST/1435 GMT
Total run of mine (ROM) production from junior miner Forbes & Manhattan
Coal fell 30.8% year on year to 245,000 mt in the fiscal third quarter 2013
period ending November 30, 2012, due to a month-long strike at its South
African Aviemore and Magdalena mines.
According to the company's Q3 production results published late
Thursday, the miner's total saleable production from both mines dropped 38.3%
year on year to 152,000 mt, a 41% drop compared with the previous quarter.
The miner decided to suspend all operations at its South African mines
on November 1 when an employee died and another was seriously injured after
being shot by Forbes security guards trying to disperse striking workers
gathered at the Magdalena site.
The strike ended on November 16 after its employees agreed to an average
wage increase of 14.8%, and full mine operations resumed on November 19.
Article continues below...
|
| Request a free trial of: International Coal Report |  |
 | International Coal Report and its daily companion, Coal Trader International, deliver expert and respected price assessments for coal trading in the Atlantic and Pacific markets including price assessments for European CIF ARA, FOB Newcastle, Richards Bay and Indonesia.
|
|
Total fiscal Q3 2013 ROM production at its Aviemore underground
anthracite mine was 61,000 mt, down 21.8% year on year, while its total
saleable production amounted to 40,000 mt, 23.2% lower year on year.
Forbes Coal said its total ROM at its Magdalena bituminous mine was
184,000 mt, down 33.3% year on year, and its total saleable production fell
42.3% year on year to 112,000 mt.
The miner also bought 25,000 mt during the quarter, totaling 177,000 of
total saleable tonnes, of which total sales amounted to 147,000 mt, a 54%
decrease from the previous year.
Forbes Coal exported 73,000 mt during fiscal Q3 2013 and sold 74,000 mt
domestically, compared with 188,200 mt and 132,000 mt respectively during Q3
2012.
The miner said in the report that its mines will close on December 22
for the holiday season, with its processing plant to reopen on January 3 and
mining operations to resume on January 7.
In November, Forbes Coal decided to cut its ROM production target for
its 2013 fiscal year, ending February 28, 2013, to 1.3 million mt, from a
previous target of 1.7 million mt due to the strike.
--Jaime Concha, jaime_concha@platts.com
--Edited by Jonathan Fox, jonathan_fox@platts.com