CSM - Consolidated Minerals

[Rimtalay]

Q3 manganese ore and alloy contracts set for sharp rises
London 29 May 2007 13:23
Third-quarter contract prices for manganese ore and alloys will increase by at least 25 percent from the second quarter on manganese ore shortages, producers indicated. Manganese ore producers are seeking a 50-80 cents gain in contract prices for the third quarter to around $3.60 per mtu on an fob basis, up from $2.80-3.10 in the second quarter. “ We see the quarterly and monthly contract prices rising steadily, with the spot price through the roof, ” said a large manganese ore producer. “ I have seen $4.80 cif and we will see these levels going into quarterly prices. – We will start negotiating next month, but people are hard up for ore, ” said a second producer. “ We will ask for a strong increase. ” He too said he expects a third-quarter price at around $3.60 per mtu. Ore spot prices have surged to $3.30-3.60 per mtu fob, their highest levels since the third quarter of 2005, from $3.10-3.30 previously, because of supply disruptions at major producers amid unabated strong demand (MB May 25). This has, in turn, led to manganese alloys prices surging, and third-quarter contracts are also set to see large increases. One silico-manganese producer mooted €1,000 ($1,345) per tonne for the third quarter to customers, while others are talking about a minimum of €900. This represents a 25-32 percent increase from €680-720 in the second quarter. Spot silico-manganese prices have risen to €800-850 per tonne from €700-730 previously on rising ore prices and pending anti-dumping investigations on imports of the product into Europe. Ferro-manganese could rise close to 30 percent in the third quarter to €850-900 per tonne, from €655-700 in the second quarter, producers said. “ Customers are getting worried about supply, ” said a large manganese alloys producer. “ I expect because of these concerns the negotiations will be quick. On the spot market we ’ ve seen prices tested well above where I thought it would be and customers weren ’ t even shocked. People are worried about getting their supply. ”

Manganese ore price lifts to highest level since Sep 05
London 25 May 2007 15:41
Manganese ore spot prices have jumped to levels last seen in September 2005 on supply disruptions at many major producers, while demand for ore has been holding unabated, market participants reported. Manganese alloys in Europe have been pushed up by the rising cost of ore, following similar trends in the USA and Asia. Manganese ore 48/50 percent manganese is now trading at $3.30-3.60 per mtu fob on the spot market, compared with $3.10-3.30 previously. Most tonnages from large suppliers are secured on long-term contracts, but the spot market has revived as demand for the ore surged this year, mainly driven by China. “ The cause of all the drama in the manganese market has been coming from the very high price for ore because of the huge demand increase in China, ” a large ore producer told MB. “ But more important is that this has combined with significant disruptions in deliveries to China from almost all the major suppliers. ” He referred to bottlenecks at ports from which Eramet has been shipping due to electricity problems, reduced ore output at CVRD ’ s Azul mine, which will be exacerbated by the closure of the mine from June for six months, and reduced output from Ghana after the Ukrainian group Privat bought the mine. “ BHP is having problems and not producing as much as they want, ” added a second large producer source. “ All of these are conspiring to put upward pressure on ore prices. The spot market is going through the roof. ” A third producer source said Chinese traders are driving prices up even further by holding onto material, with reports in the market of prices as high as $5-5.30 per mtu cif. “ When the ore price increase, the alloy prices follow, ” said the third producer source. Indeed, the price for ferro-manganese and silico-manganese in Europe jumped to €800-850 ($1,076-1,143) per tonne delivered on both products, from €670- 705 and €700-730 respectively. Silico-manganese spot business has been transacted at levels over €900 per tonne, market participants reported. One silico-manganese producer reported achieving €1,000 in Europe.
“ Steel demand is very strong in Europe, ” said a manganese alloys producer. “ We have customers asking for prompt delivery, but we struggle because we are full. ” He said the European price on ferro-manganese with 7.5 percent carbon and silico-manganese basis 65-75 percent manganese has risen by at least €50 in the past week alone. “ Had we spoken a week ago, the price would certainly have been lower. The market has taken all the fundamentals at play on board and has now just been propelled forward by momentum, ” he said. All the producers said the jup in the spot price bodes well for the third-quarter contract negotiations, which are due to start “ pretty soon ”

 

[Rimtalay]

This Sean Gilbertson thinks its a done deal, he better up the price then. If they can only afford $320 million then better only give them 40%. That would mean $1.38/share plus 3 shares for 5.
They're smart they realise ConsMin is undervalued by the market. "we like to identify assets that have been unloved, are not well supported, are not well understood "

Sean Gilbertson: Partner, Pallinghurst Resources Fund

28 May 2007 23:09

MONEYWEB: Sean Gilbertson joins us now. Sean, the reason we wanted to chat to you was the announcement made from Pallinghurst and Investec and AMCI that you are going to be getting together and raising about $1bn to $1.5bn to invest in the resources sector. Why these partners in particular?

SEAN GILBERTSON: Well, Geoff, we've spent some time working with AMCI in the past and, as you may or may not know, I spent the early part of my career working in the coal business with a thing called Global Coal, and came across AMCI then. And we've always found AMCI to be a very pragmatic partner, so I think that's why probably they came to the table first. And Investec, of course, one of the famous home-grown South African names, again is an outfit that shares many of the strategic visions that we do. And accordingly, in part given their expertise in the resources sector, we thought they would make perfect partners together with AMCI - and that's resulted in today's announcement.

MONEYWEB: David was saying that we can draw from this partnership that assumingly you feel that there is some value still left in the resources sector. What sorts of companies are you going to be looking at?

SEAN GILBERTSON: Absolutely. And I like to think that, while I can tell you today about two of those opportunities, there is actually a pipeline of opportunities which we think are absolutely first rate. The first transaction, which we announced in February of this year, was a transaction with Consolidated Minerals of Australia, which is a producer of manganese ore, chromite nickel, tungsten and so forth - all of the things that you effectively need for steel companies. And under that transaction, which is fully supported by the Board of Consolidated Minerals, we would be acquiring 60% of that business for A$320m, which is approximately US$260m. And the idea is that we would use Consolidated Minerals as a growth vehicle to expand then, both by geography and also by commodity. So that's really opportunity number one. Opportunity number two is our long-held belief that there's a lot of merit in branding precious stones. And having looked at that opportunity over he last several years, we felt that by far and away the best brand name we could possibly get our hands on would be the Fabergé brand name of Russian and French heritage. And we spent some two years trying to do it, but in January of this year, I'm pleased to say that we were successful in acquiring the Fabergé brand name from Unilever, and will now set about creating a brand of gemstone strategy and acquiring access to appropriate underlying assets.

MONEYWEB: Looking at the Consolidated Minerals deal, you've taken 60% and Brian Gilbertson will be on the board, as well as the two founders of AMCI. Is this the way you are going to go about these deals - you're going to take board control, or not control necessarily, but play an active role in the companies you invest in?

SEAN GILBERTSON: Absolutely. Together with AMCI and Investec and our press release earlier today, we've also alluded to the involvement of the leading Asian steel player.

MONEYWEB: I take it you can't release the name?

SEAN GILBERTSON: Unfortunately Geoff, I can't tell you who that was. However, the documentation relating to the Consolidated Minerals transaction has just been filed in Australia, and will very soon be in the public domain. And what I can suggest to you is that if you get a copy of those documents when they're available, you will find the name of that steel company in the documents. To answer your question, yes, Consolidated Minerals is a good example of the type of transaction that we want to do. We are going to have, depending on the amount of money that we raise within Pallinghurst Resources itself, and together with the deal that we've announced today with Investec, and of course AMCI and the steel company, somewhere between a billion and $1.5bn. And with that money we would like to go after five to seven different platforms. Consolidated Minerals is one of those platforms, our precious stones player is another one of those platforms. We are not quite in a position to talk about the others yet, but I can tell you that the remaining opportunities are pretty well developed. So in general, yes, we do like to take controlling interests, 50% plus, with corresponding board representation - it doesn't necessarily have to be control. But the whole idea is that, rather than taking a shotgun approach whereby we just buy as many things as we possibly can and hope that an appropriate number of them work out, we would much prefer to pay very careful attention to each one of the businesses and ensure that they become world-class businesses.

MONEYWEB: Clearly, though, it's a lot of work for the board representees?

SEAN GILBERTSON: Yes, indeed it will be, and in fact, Arne Frandsen, whom I suspect you are probably familiar with, who has had a sterling track record in South Africa despite the fact that he's originally Danish, is a member of the Pallinghurst team, and I guess it's a token demonstration of our commitment to these assets that he will actually be inserted on a full-time basis with Consolidated Minerals, and that means that he's got to up-ship as it were and move to Perth, and he will take an executive position on the board as head of strategy and work very carefully and closely with that team for the foreseeable future in delivering the strategies that we've outlined for Consolidated Minerals.

MONEYWEB: Sean, you obviously are positive about the resources sector, but how do you see it placed at the moment - where do you see it going?

SEAN GILBERTSON: Well, if I could answer that question, Geoff, I probably wouldn't be sitting here talking to the day, or maybe I would be doing so from the back of a yacht parked somewhere in the Mediterranean. I think the difference is that the team of people that we've been privileged to put together in Pallinghurst Resources are not experts at calling the market - and what we do is not based on calling the market. What we believe we do doesn't depend on whether the market is going up, down or sideways, and that really means that we like to identify assets that have been unloved, are not well supported, are not well understood - and that we can strategically reposition those assets. And we believe that we can do that whether the markets are up, down or sideways.

MONEYWEB: Sean Gilbertson is a partner at Pallinghurst Resources. David, they sound like they've got a plan and they're looking to do quite a lot of things?

DAVID SHAPIRO: Sure. Well, he's got good DNA, old Sean. I think if you take Brian, his father's track record, he's been a superb miner and done very well. I'm very interested in the Fabergé branding, because De Beers started that with diamonds, or they've started to brand their diamonds so that you know the source of the stone. And also, what's interesting about De Beers, if ever you've gone to London to Bond Street there, they have a shop there - they have got actual retail outlets where they are branding the name. So I don't know whether we're going to get a Fabergé out where you can actually buy branded stones as well. But interesting strategy, and sounds confident. I think the only concern is it just shows you how much mining development is taking place outside of South Africa, and just how much we've got to catch up. And, having been a leader there, we are actually kind of playing catch-up now, or people are snapping at our heels in all respects.

 

[Rimtalay]

(AMM) Squeeze takes silicomanganese to 90 cents a pound
New York 30 May 2007 23:25
Silicomanganese prices have spiked again, and consumers are bracing themselves for even higher prices driven by a tightening manganese ore market. Spot silicomanganese has jumped to between 84 and 90 cents per pound in the United States, up from a previous range of 72 to 80 cents per pound. One trader, who reported offering truckloads of the material for more than 90 cents per pound, said the shortage of supply has customers who are seeking large quantities at a disadvantage. "It actually works against you for larger quantities because the market is that tight," he said. "The problem is that a small-time consumer may be able to go to six or seven guys to get material, but a larger consumer might only find two or three guys who can quote on it." A pair of traders said consumers who were previously waiting for prices to fall before ordering are now hungry for material and have no choice but to pay top prices to meet their production needs. A manganese ore shortage in China continues to underpin the high prices for manganese metal and alloys. And the recent price rally for manganese alloys is showing no signs of slowing down, as customers anticipate a critical shortage once Cia. Val do Rio Doce closes its Azul Mine. The shutdown, to begin in June, is slated to last at least six months. Market sources said the company's lower manganese ore sales will further aggravate the current global shortage. In the first quarter of 2007, CVRD's ore sales fell 60 percent to 83,000 tonnes from its sales the previous quarter. Also tightening the supply picture in China is the restructuring of Ghana Manganese Ltd. on the back of its takeover by Ukraine's Privat Group in March. "The price of manganese metal is going up, we're seeing crazy prices and then there is the manganese ore shortage in China," a producer said. "Then once Azul closes that will add up to even more tightness in the manganese ore market."
One producer said he expects to see the alloy trading for more than $1 a pound in the near term. Rumors that BHP Billiton is experiencing production problems, however, have been largely dismissed by U.S. traders as unfounded. U.S. silicomanganese production continues to struggle to fill the void, as the country's largest producer, Eramet Marietta Inc., cannot make enough to take advantage of the rocketing spot market, sources said. Copyright © Metal Bulletin PLC. All rights reserved.

 

[noirua]

How much truth is there in the thinking that AMCI are looking to add their Aussie coal interests to the Consolidated Minerals set-up and form a larger diversified Mining House?

 

[Rimtalay]

Don't be so silly to even think for one minute that they will give you anything more than $1.38/share plus 2 share for 5. If they buy anything else they will just do a capital raising for themselves at a price they decide. If they SELL any existing assets into the company they will sell at their own price and take out as many shares as they want. Don't forget they'll have 60% of the shares. You'll get nothing for free.
They are already trying to rip you off by not announcing to the market about the latest manganese prices. I have made a formal complaint to the ASX, and I wouldn't do that unless I was 100% sure of their game.
READ THIS - DID BAXTER TELL YOU ABOUT IT - NO WAY-

Mn ore price to push up next quarter
2007-5-31 10:52:41 BEIJING (Asian Metal) 31 May 07 –
Manganese ore tightness is getting worse and some participants are already airing producers are bend on increasing price by almost 50%, however, all attempt to confirm from producers failed. According to manganese alloy producer in India, manganese ore producers in Australia have decided to increase price for next quarter by almost 50% due to shortage of material and increasing demand. Normally the company buy 7,000tpm but they are informed that cannot get up to that quantity, price now for July -August consignment is USD6-6.5/dmtu CIF Calcutta for lumpy 48% Mn. The domestic producers like Tata are not offering material for sales and other are selling limited quantity. A trader source in Singapore informed that in Shanghai ferroalloy summit, it was unanimously agreed by producers and consumers to hike standard grade manganese ore next quarter to USD6.5/dmtu CIF Chinese main port for 48% Mn, presently, price is stable and supply is still tight. Although manganese ore market is still tight, for prices to double next quarter would definitely worsen already volatile manganese alloy market.

 

[RM8]

Rimtalay - surely most shareholders especially the larger ones are aware of whats happening in the markets with maganese etc.

They will be expecting an adjustment to the offer terms before they accept. Doesn't the current share price reflect this?

 

[Sainter]

The real cost of this deal to shareholders

To put the 'offer' in perspective, basically Gilbertson wants to buy 3 of every 5 shares you own for $2.28. He will let you keep the other two which of course are worth the current market value. Remember, the company does not change one iota as a result of the deal getting up-just the personnel on the board (it becomes bigger and therefore more costly to maintain).
The 'promise' is a bigger company at some stage in the future, which hopefully means a loftier shareprice. Well, given you would have sold 3 of every 5 shares you own for $2.28, the remaining two of five shares need to appreciate in value, just to make up for the money you will lose if the deal gets up. That is, at a closing price today of $2.93, the new 'par' price would be $3.91-just to get the money back Gilbertson will take from you. It's not as if he's so poor he needs your charity, is it? VOTE NO!

current price 'par' price post deal (if it gets up)
2.28 2.28
2.30 2.33
2.40 2.58
2.50 2.83
2.60 3.08
2.70 3.33
2.80 3.58
2.90 3.83
3.00 4.08
3.10 4.33
2.93 3.91

 

[Rimtalay]

Hi Sainter, yes you are 100% correct, I'd never thought about it like that before. I should have, because I am now used to Baxter's gobbledygook, mumbo jumbo and drivel about the manganese and chrome ore prices.
Why would anyone be so stupid as to sell their 3 shares to Gilbertson for $2.28/share.
The way manganese and chrome ore markets are going ConsMin will make a fortune FY08.
WE do however need NEW management.
Let's hope Baxter will fall on his sword when we vote NO.

 

[Rimtalay]

Check out the CSM VOTE NO website.
latest manganese prices, chart and graph

http://www.usail2.com/manganese_chart_graph.htm
Please note that the increase from Jan 07 (US$2.75/dmtu) till today 1st June 07 (US$4.25/dmtu) is US$1.55/dmtu . This increase assuming similar costs will increase the profit by AUD$85 million FY08 for similar production as FY07.

 

[hubisan]

Need to connect shareholders together and vote NO to any deal for now

I would like to insist that if the Pallinghurst deal happens you will get some cash (whatever the improved cash offer might be) and you will keep 40% of your shares. Then what will be the price of these shares afterwards? I TELL YOU that these shares will be worth less than what they are worth NOW. How much less? Very much less! Because these shares will be minority shares in a company managed by Pallinghurst. My valuation is that the share may LOOSE 50% of previous value. A minority share in general is at least -20% wrt a control share like the one you have now. But with a greedy investor like Pallinghurst (Do i have to prove that?) with well known connections to mining interest from third parties, (russian, AMCI, south african whatelse?) once they have control there is nothing that will prevent them from selling CONSMIN assets to friendly interests at discount price first. If you want a sign: AMCI has sold its Australian mining interests=> There is no prospect for any of these raiders to bring assets to CONSMIN but on the contrary it is likely that they will sell assets. Do you want to take the risk to mandate Pallinghurst to sell Consmin assets and give you charity? If you want to be a LOOSER you can say YES to any Pallinghurst deal where you become minority holder. My first message is: DO NOT VALUE the share they give you at the same price as the share they have taken from you. These two shares are totally different. If you do the computations with my guidance you will get a better idea of how much you loose. My second message is : IT IS NOT THE MOMENT TO SELL ANY CONSMIN share EVEN FOR 100% CASH. CONSMIN is in full recovery and has tremendous prospects of immediate PROFITABILITY (Our manganese M;INE is a CASHCOW) and future very profitable GROWTH (in nickel). CONSMIN has a future with more than 1 and maybe several Billion AU dollars. It is not possible to value all this upside in a CASH offer. I vote NO to ANY DEAL. The only thing I vote is to replace the management because they tried to fool us . REMEMBER a MINORITY share is WORTH LITTLE, your present share of UNCONTROLLED diversified mine is UNVALUABLE, means cannot be VALUED at PRESENT time. And the most useful thing to do is to connect shareholders together and prepare resolutions for the meeting.
By HUBISAN.
I can be contacted at: hubisan1asp@free.fr

 

[hubisan]

Some questions to large CONSMIN institutional holders

1/ Who can pretend that he has reasons to trust, or that he can control, the future course of action of Pallinghurst and Mr Gilbertson to be in the interest of present CONSMIN shareholders?
SO why accept to become a minority holder of new Consmin controlled by Pallinghurst?

2/ Who is able to value the potential of Consmin NOW?
The nickel production could be twice or triple the current one within a few semesters. The prices of nickel managanese and chrome are exploding. Many signs show that this may last. The cumulative effect of all that is so important on the valuation of Consmin that no bidder can value all this upside. So why sell now?

3/ What better investment for your money do you have if you sell COnsmin?
We are between Chinese demand and Australian ore? What better place to be? Think high prices won't last?
The response from CVRD on manganese is clear. They are not impressed by volatility of demand and price ; they shutdown production in order to reorganise and reduce costs. They are not afraid of loosing "a time window of high prices": a clear sign that the power is to the producers and high prices of manganese are here to stay. We do not need Palinghurst to get more pricing power on manganese price CVRD does the work for us.
The case for future profitability of nickel and chromium at Consmin is also clear to me.
Consmin doesnot need cash. The managenese mine is now a very big CASHFLOW and even excellent profit. And the life index of this mine is increasing going forward with exploitation!
We do not need projects nor assets for growth. Nickel assets have plenty of upside. Consmin has everything except a management working in the interest of shareholders.


4/ Why not consider to replace this management who tries to fool you institutional shareholders and us ?

5/ Why not fight the offer on the public place to get a better offer at least?
A simple public statement from a major institutional holder could turn all this mess down and would also trigger further recovery of the share.
The share is down because the market fears that a proposal as weak as the Pallinghurst one may have some chances to be successful with some hike in the cash fraction of the price.

Final comment :
Large institutional shareholders are responsible for their vote and they must vote on behalf of the people who give them money. If they agree to the deal they will be accountable for that. My perception is that if they accept the deal it can be questionned whether they themseves act in the best interest of the people who give them money to invest.
Minority holders of Consmin may ask that also.

Hubisan

 

[Rimtalay]

(AMM) No escape from manganese beast: traders
New York 04 June 2007 21:15
U.S. silicomanganese prices spiked again Monday as spot sales ploughed through 90 cents per pound on a scarcity of domestic supply and critical lack of imports from China. Spot silicomanganese is now trading between 90 and 96 cents per pound in the United States, up from a previous range of 84 to 90 cents per pound. One trader, who reported selling a small tonnage at around $1.05 a pound, said that truckload sales of alloy are now being offered at a minimum of 95 cents per pound. A manganese ore shortage in China has sent the price of all manganese alloys and metal soaring, limiting exports to the United States and leaving customers scrambling to get their hands on material. "There is just nothing available," a second trader said. "In China, the demand side is strong internally and on the ore side there is a shortage, so prices are high and (U.S.) traders are sitting on the sidelines because they don't have the capital to bring in any material." The country's largest producer of the alloy, Eramet Marietta Inc., is unable to offer any material on the spot market. The company's facility in Marietta, Ohio, is reportedly running at capacity following an unplanned six-week outage that began in early March. However, it has not withdrawn a force majeure declaration from that period, and sources said it is stockpiling any excess material it makes so that it can continue to satisfy contracts when one of its furnaces is taken down for a major rebuild later this year. The company isn't expected to offer material on the spot market until 2008, a source close to Eramet Marietta said. Historically, high silicomanganese prices have compelled users to switch out of the alloy and substitute it with a combination of ferrosilicon and high-carbon ferromanganese. But the market hasn't witnessed a wave of substitution because the manganese ore shortage in China has also underpinned nearly record highs for ferromanganese, while ferrosilicon is also pricey by historic standards.
U.S. high-carbon ferromanganese is now trading hands between $1,300 and $1,600 per long ton, just $200 shy of its $1,800-per-ton record set in April 2004. And market players said it is just a matter of time before all manganese alloys breach U.S. records. "There is nothing on the horizon that is going to save the consumer," the second trader said. "In 2004 a handful of producers came onboard to increase production, but this time we're not going to see any increase in domestic production." "You can only substitute with what is available and right now everything is very tight," a producer said. "China has a monopoly on ferrosilicon so you're going to run into the same problems with getting that material into the country." Spot ferrosilicon has climbed rapidly in the past week to trade between 62 cents and 72 cents per pound, up from a previous range of 59 cents to 61 cents per pound. "China's offering at numbers in the high 60s, so you have to be over that in order to be profitable here," the first trader said. A tender issued by Gerdau Ameristeel Corp. for a large quantity of high-carbon ferromanganese and silicomanganese is due Tuesday, a pair of traders said. "Gerdau's out this week and what they get will influence high-carbon ferromanganese, silicomanganese and ferrosilicon prices," the second trader said.

 

[kerosam]

hi CSM-faithfuls,

quite a drop from the high $2.90s today. a normal retrace or pple pulling out?

i hold.

 

[Rimtalay]

Read the AFR tomorrow.
You'll be glad that you hold CSM, the good news can be covered up for only so long

 

[questionall_42]

Read the AFR tomorrow.
You'll be glad that you hold CSM, the good news can be covered up for only so long

That's an intiguing statement Rimtalay. I have really appreciated yr posts in this thread; so, would care to enlighten us on tomorrow's news in the AFR?

 

[Rimtalay]

Read it tomorrow in the AFR, it only costs $2.50, then you'll know the whole story. I guess it will tell you that manganese has gone up 100% and that ConsMin management are trying to hide the news.

But since I didn't write the story, then I'll have to wait like you.

 

[Rimtalay]

DID YOU KNOW MANGANESE IS UP & CSM IS MAKING A FORTUNE? NO! YOU DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE. WHY? CONSMIN management don't want to tell you and they are trying to cover up the facts because they want this deal with Gilbertson. WHY? Rod Baxter gets to keep his job and will be elevated to MD of the New ConsMin.
This information is from Ryan's Notes Metal Trading Report
Manganese - RN 48% manganese ore $/MnU 4.9 5.2 6/5/2007
Manganese - RN 48% manganese ore $/MnU 4.9 5.2 6/1/2007
Manganese - RN 48% manganese ore $/MnU 4.7 5 5/25/2007
Manganese - RN 48% manganese ore $/MnU 4.7 5 5/22/2007
Manganese - RN 48% manganese ore $/MnU 4.35 4.6 5/18/2007
Manganese - RN 48% manganese ore $/MnU 4.2 4.3 5/15/2007
Manganese - RN 48% manganese ore $/MnU 4.2 4.3 5/11/2007
Manganese - RN 48% manganese ore $/MnU 3.8 4 5/8/2007
Manganese - RN 48% manganese ore $/MnU 3.6 4 5/4/2007
Manganese - RN 48% manganese ore $/MnU 3.2 3.6 5/1/2007
Note a 54% rise low side and 45% rise high side in just over the month
REMEMBER US$1.00/dmtu increase = AUD$54 million extra pretax profit FY for ConsMin, and we have just seen a US$1.70/dmtu increase in just one month and it's about to blow through the roof.
www.asianmetal.com is talking about US$8/dmtu in the near future.

 

[RM8]

Read it tomorrow in the AFR, it only costs $2.50, then you'll know the whole story. I guess it will tell you that manganese has gone up 100% and that ConsMin management are trying to hide the news.

But since I didn't write the story, then I'll have to wait like you.

$2.70 actually, but thanks for the heads up Rimtaley, I'll look out for it.

Sounds like Baxter needs to go for a row

 

[Rimtalay]

www.metal-pages.com 7th July 07
"Manganese alloys continued to move down slowly as the demand was not as strong as it wascouple of months. Domestic steel mills that are facing increased export duty on steel products
on expensive raw materials hence the market came into a deadlock. But the general consensus market would move down slowly further in the following weeks and a plummet is being values for manganese ore, which is being quoted in a range between RMB62-65/mtu in the spothigh grade (Mn 48%) lumpy material."

"Manganese ore (Aus 48% Min) Rmb62-65/mtu Rmb62-65/mtu "

NOTE: Rmb 62-65/dmtu is = US$8.10 -US$8.49/dmtu.
NOTE: over US$2.00/dmtu every US$1.00/dmtu = AUD$54 million pretax profit for ConsMin

 

[Rimtalay]

Sorry it is $2.70 to retail customers. It's only $2.50 wholesale.
Still its worth spending your $2.70 then.

The important thing is the story is in the AFR
'ConsMin sweats on Ore prices'
Key Points
* An offer for Consolidated Minerals now looks low
*The board faces criticism for endorsing the bid

The action will really start when the scheme documentation hits the deck.
The game will then begin in earnest.