Melbourne (Platts)--4Dec2012/427 am EST/927 GMT
Australian Consolidated Minerals reported a 20% year-on-year drop in its third quarter manganese ore sales, mainly as a result of lower exports from its Ghana operations due to weak demand from the stainless steel market, the company said Friday. Consmin shipped 748,600 mt of manganese ore in the third quarter compared with 940,900 mt in the year-ago period. Exports of manganese from Consmin's Ghana operations were 23.5% lower year on year in the quarter ended September, the company said in its latest results. Production of manganese ore from Consmin's operations in Australia and Ghana were up slightly by 6.2% in the quarter at 873,500 mt, compared with 822,700 mt in the year earlier. While average cash costs in Q3 were $2.93/dmtu down from $3.63/dmtu in Q3 2011. "With the majority of Chinese steel mills reporting significantly reduced margins or even losses during the quarter, steel mills have sought to reduce production costs and have put significant pressure on all raw material suppliers to reduce prices," Consmin said.Article continues below...Sign up to Metals DailyPlatts Metals Daily offers prices, news and analysis for the aluminum, copper and molybdenum value chains. It contains hundreds of metals prices across base, minor, light and precious metals assessed by editors globally. This detailed report will help you monitor global events and quickly spot opportunities or potential pitfalls as well as bring you aluminum and copper price and news coverage. Daily prices and news for molybdenum are also covered to deliver critical insights.
Australian Consolidated Minerals reported a 20% year-on-year drop in its third quarter manganese ore sales, mainly as a result of lower exports from its Ghana operations due to weak demand from the stainless steel market, the company said Friday. Consmin shipped 748,600 mt of manganese ore in the third quarter compared with 940,900 mt in the year-ago period. Exports of manganese from Consmin's Ghana operations were 23.5% lower year on year in the quarter ended September, the company said in its latest results. Production of manganese ore from Consmin's operations in Australia and Ghana were up slightly by 6.2% in the quarter at 873,500 mt, compared with 822,700 mt in the year earlier. While average cash costs in Q3 were $2.93/dmtu down from $3.63/dmtu in Q3 2011. "With the majority of Chinese steel mills reporting significantly reduced margins or even losses during the quarter, steel mills have sought to reduce production costs and have put significant pressure on all raw material suppliers to reduce prices," Consmin said.
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Platts Metals Daily offers prices, news and analysis for the aluminum, copper and molybdenum value chains. It contains hundreds of metals prices across base, minor, light and precious metals assessed by editors globally. This detailed report will help you monitor global events and quickly spot opportunities or potential pitfalls as well as bring you aluminum and copper price and news coverage. Daily prices and news for molybdenum are also covered to deliver critical insights.
Chinese manganese alloy prices also came under pressure and fell around 10% over July-September, forcing producers to reduce costs through decreased stock positions and production cut backs, creating a difficult operating environment throughout the steel supply chain, Consmin said. Consmin said manganese stocks at Chinese ports continued to fall in the third quarter and were around 2.5 million mt by the end of the quarter, down from 3.6 million mt at the start of the first quarter in January. Manganese ore imports into China were 3.3 million mt for the quarter ended September, which Consmin said was "a clear sign that consumption of manganese ore in the alloy industry remains robust". China is expected to consume over 13 million mt of imported manganese ore in 2012.--Marnie Hobson, marnie_hobson@platts.com --Edited by Haripriya Banerjee, haripriya_banerjee@platts.com
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