Int'l Ferro welcomes rise in demand and prices

17th Jul 2009 10:58

International Ferro Metals (IFL) is better Friday after it said the Chinese stimulus programme boosted ferrochrome demand and spot prices over the past month.Ferrochrome group IFL restarted production during the fourth quarter, producing 18,437 tonnes versus just 1,168 tonnes in the previous three months."Over the four weeks to 17 July, ferrochrome demand and spot prices have increased noticeably as a result of the Chinese stimulus programme combined with low ferrochrome inventories," the group said.It also sold more ferrochrome to China during the three months to 30 June than to anyone else, although demand from Europe and North America has grown over the past few weeks.But output was still far less than last year's final quarter total of 56,608 tonnes, while sales volumes, which were up 300% quarter-on-quarter, fell to 41,916 tonnes from 89,091 tonnes a year ago. Production for the year to 30 June 2009 dropped to 110,364 tonnes from 205,607 tonnes in 2008, while sales volumes fell to 101,835 tonnes from 207,862 tonnes.Some workers have been sacked and senior employees and board members have taken a 10% cut in wages as the firm struggles to cope with the weak ferrochrome market.