London-listed ferrochrome producer, International Ferro Metals (IFL) says production volumes fell by 15% to 85,779 tonnes (t) for the six months ended December 2011, compared to the same period in 2010.
Ferrochrome sales fell by 3% to 100,318t on the comparative period, but had increased by 21% on the six months ended in June 2011.
The lower production volumes resulted in a loss before tax of ZAR139 million, compared with a loss of ZAR160 million for the comparative period and a loss of ZAR54 million in the previous half.
IFL chief executive, Chris Jordaan said the decline in production volumes was due to furnace shutdowns for roof rebuilds.
“IFL has seen genuine operational achievements during the half year, including the successful completion of the furnace roof rebuild on time and on budget and the commencement of mining and successful ramp-up at our new Sky Chrome mine. In addition we progressed a number of efficiency and cost-saving projects including the modification of the cogen plant, the commissioning of the UG2 plant and the commissioning of the waste recovery plant.”
The company's ferrochrome inventory dropped to 10,737t from 25,275t in June 2011.
Despite this, Jordaan said the ferrochrome market showed signs of a recovery. - I-Net Bridge