London-based Ferroglobe PLC has entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of Glencore Intl for the acquisition of two manganese alloys plants (Dunkirk, France and Mo I Rana, Norway) by Grupo FerroAtlántica, S.A., a subsidiary of Ferroglobe. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018. In 2016, the combined sales of these plants were approximately 160,000 tons of ferromanganese and 110,000 of silicomanganese. During the same year, Ferroglobe sold approximately 135,000 tons of ferromanganese and 132,000 tons of silicomanganese.
The acquisition price for the two facilities includes an up-front payment at closing as well as an earn-out payment, payable over eight and a half years, based on the annual performance of each of the acquired plants. With the acquisition, Glencore and Ferroglobe will enter into an exclusive 10-year agency arrangement for the marketing of Ferroglobe's manganese alloys products worldwide, and for the procurement of manganese ores to supply Ferroglobe's plants. For Ferroglobe, the partnership facilitates access to Glencore's global clients in the steel industry.
Through subsidiaries Globe Specialty Metals in the USA and Quebec Silicon Limited Partnership and QSIP Canada ULC in Canada, Ferroglobe has been active in initiating trade cases againts imports, though with opposite results. In the US, it had a positive preliminary ruling by the US Department of Commerce (DOC) while the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) determined that dumped silicon metal imports did not cause injury to the sole domestic producers.