Impala Platinum: Local clients ‘will be a priority’

Impala Platinum (Implats) would cut metal deliveries by as much as 60 percent in three to four months should the 15-week-long pay strike continue to cripple mines, it has said. The producer met all customer deliveries in April, spokesman Johan Theron said on Tuesday. Implats would have “supply constraints in May”, Theron said. “We’ll continue to prioritise our South African clients.” Stocks of palladium, which is used for catalytic converters to reduce emissions in vehicles, were the most critical. The company would help customers to obtain if it cut deliveries. The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has been on strike at Anglo American Platinum, Implats and Lonmin since January. Amcu has rejected the three producers’ latest offer to increase pay to R12 500 a month by 2017 including benefits, instead demanding that amount in base pay. That’s double the current salaries of entry-level workers. The platinum producers ended talks April 24 and decided to put their latest pay offer directly to workers, using text messages and radio commercials. Implats share closed 0.4 percent lower at R119.49 on Tuesday. – Bloomberg