Merafe Resources: Ferrochrome price settles 2.5% lower

EUROPEAN benchmark ferrochrome prices had been settled at $1.19 (R12.50) a pound for the third quarter, a decline of 2.5 percent from the agreed price of $1.22 a pound in the second quarter, Merafe Resources announced yesterday. Its shares fell 1c to R1.40 on the JSE yesterday. Ferrochrome is mainly used to produce stainless steel. Merafe participates in the biggest ferrochrome operation through its 20.5 percent share in the Glencore Merafe Chrome Venture, in which global diversified mining house Glencore has a 79.5 percent stake. Merafe said on Monday that it expected to report a hike of between 569 percent and 615 percent in basic earnings a share for the six months to June, to between 8.7c and 9.3c, compared with 1.3c for the comparative period last year. Headline earnings a share were expected to increase by between 126 percent and 142 percent, to between 8.6c and 9.2c, Merafe said. – Dineo Faku