Morning:
14°c
Eurasian Natural Resources, the Kazakh miner with the revolving boardroom door, is planning a shopping spree as it eyes a recovery in the global metals market.
The world's largest producer of ferrochrome, which is used in the production of stainless steel, today said it believes the recent commodity prices rally could be the start of a sustained recovery.
Chief executive Johannes Sittard said: “We are optimistic because it is not just China driving demand any more. We are starting to see an improvement from other countries, especially Europe, but also North America and Japan.”
The cash-rich company is looking to take advantage of the knockdown valuations of some of its rivals to expand, and is casting the net wide for potential targets. “We are looking to increase our strength in our main iron ore business but we also want to grow our non-steel arm. And we are not just looking at central Asia,” Sittard said.
It came as ENRC revealed its pain from the collapse in commodity prices, with a 63% slump in profits before tax to $751 million (£457 million) for the first six months of the year. Revenues halved to $1.7 billion.
Sittard is stepping into the shoes of chairman Sir David Cooksey, who is leaving to head UK Financial Investments. Felix Vulis, boss of the Kazakhstan arm, becomes chief executive. Finance director Miguel Perry left earlier this year.
