London, 9 May (Argus) — A takeover offer for London-listed mining firm Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) is uncertain, the company said today.
Potential bidder oligarch Alexander Machkevitch said on 19 April that he is “reviewing a number of potential opportunities that include the possibility of making an offer for ENRC". Machevitch has until 17 May to make a bid, but ENRC chief executive Felix Vulis said today that “there can be no certainty that an offer will ultimately be made for ENRC, nor the terms on which any offer might be made”.
ENRC saw its iron ore production fall in the first quarter of this year as a harsh winter in Kazakhstan affected operations.
Ore extraction fell by 9.2pc to 9.26mn t compared with the same quarter last year and was down by 15.7pc on the fourth quarter of 2012. “Unusually severe weather conditions during the period led to the decrease in both mining and processing,” ENRC said. “Temperatures were 46°C below freezing and wind speeds at their peak reached 19m/s, which caused rail wagons to be blown off their tracks.”
Saleable concentrate production with a 65.8pc Fe content fell by nearly a quarter year on year to 1.53mn t, and was down by 38pc on the previous quarter. But iron ore pellet production with a 63.5pc Fe content was slightly higher at 1.90mn t, up by 0.7pc on the year-ago figures and 3.6pc on the previous quarter.
ENRC produced 3.44mn t of total saleable iron ore in the first quarter, down by 12pc on the same period in 2012 and by 20pc on the fourth quarter last year.
The company also extracted 5.82mn t of coal from its Vostochny mine, flat to the previous year. Coal production fell by over a third on the previous quarter to 1.66mn t, owing to a seasonal drop in demand. The fourth quarter is traditionally the highest demand period for Shubarkol coal, ENRC said.
ENRC is Kazakhstan's largest iron ore mining company as well as holding assets in Brazil. It has a coking coal project in Mozambique and produced around 20mn t of thermal coal last year.
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