Kazakhstan-based mining group Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Plc. (ENRC) has announced its fourth quarter and 2008 production results.
Accordingly, in 2008, ENRC's saw a 5.6 percent increase in its ferroalloys output to 1.551 million mt, a 4.3 percent raise in its ferrochrome production to 1.196 million mt, but a 6.1 percent decrease in its iron ore output to 37.751 million mt and a 7.8 percent drop in its primary iron ore concentrate production to 15.487 million mt, all compared to 2007.
During the fourth quarter of 2008, in line with ENRC's previously announced cutbacks of 35 percent for the company's ferrochrome production and of 50 percent for its primary iron ore concentrate, ENRC's total ferroalloy production in Q4 2008, went down by 22 percent year on year to 290,000 mt, its ferrochrome output decreased by 23.8 percent to 244,000 mt, its iron ore extraction dropped by 42 percent to 6.11 million mt, and its primary iron ore concentrate production decreased by 42.7 percent to 2.448 million mt, all compared to Q4 2007.
With regards to the outlook for 2009, ENRC stated that it sees no immediate prospect of an improvement, at least for the first half of the year, and that it anticipates reduced production volumes and pricing pressures to continue into 2009.
"The operating environment for the ferroalloys and iron ore divisions deteriorated in Q4 2008. We responded very quickly to the change in the economic environment with the announcement of production cutbacks. Currently, we feel comfortable with the sufficiency of the cutbacks and with our outlook, at least for the first-half of 2009. We do, however, continue to monitor the situation closely," ENRC's CEO Dr. Johannes Sittard stated.