Merafe Resources: Ferrochrome output rises by 32%

Merafe Resources rose 6.45 percent to close at 99c on the JSE on Friday after it announced that it had boosted ferrochrome output in the year to December. The company said production had increased by 32 percent year on year to 319 000 tons of attributable ferrochrome production from the Glencore Xstrata-Merafe chrome venture in the year to December. Ferrochrome sales volumes for the year increased by 23 percent year on year to 314 000 tons. In addition, the hot commissioning of the venture’s Lion 2 smelter began in the last quarter of last year and will continue during the first half of this year. “First production has been slightly delayed mainly due to limited availability of contractors over the December holiday period as well as heavy rainfall and windy conditions in the last quarter of 2013,” the company said on Friday. It said the overall project, however, remained within schedule and on budget and it was expected that the smelter would be fully operational toward the middle of the year. – Dineo Faku