Kazakhstan-based mining group Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Plc. (ENRC) has announced its operational results for the first quarter of 2013.
The miner registered a ferroalloy output of 364,000 mt in the first quarter this year, decreasing by 2.9 percent compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year, but rising by 7.1 percent quarter on quarter. In the given quarter, the company's iron ore pellet output saw a slight increase of 0.7 percent year on year and was up 3.6 percent quarter on quarter to 1.9 million mt, while its iron ore extraction amounted to 9.26 million mt, down 9.2 percent year on year.
In the first quarter, the company's production was at full available capacity across all of the group's divisions, with the exception of iron ore, which was impacted by severe winter weather conditions and Shubarkol, where production decreased in line with seasonal demand.
According to ENRC, unfortunately Kazakhstan experienced severe winter weather conditions which impacted the company's ability to mine iron ore during January. However, by selling off inventories ENRC managed to maintain sales to customers over this period. The company remains focused on the development of key growth projects, management of cost inflation and maximizing production volumes.