[Ferro-alloys.com]ASSORE reported headline earnings for the year to June 30th 2013 fell 4.7% on the previous year to ZAR 3.5 billion mainly on a drop in the headline earnings of iron ore‚ manganese and chrome miner Assmang in which Assore holds a 50% interest. Assmang’s headline earnings fell 7.1% to ZAR 6.5 billion from last year.

Increased turnover‚ however resulted in higher commissions being earned by the group‚ partly limiting the decline in overall headline earnings. Assmang sells raw material to steel mills and alloy plants worldwide.

Assmang’s headline earnings were negatively affected by lower US dollar selling prices for iron ore. However‚ this was mostly offset by a weaker rand to dollar exchange rate and a rise in sales of iron and chrome ores.

Group products were mainly sold in China‚ wherecrude steel production was at record levels in the second half of the financial year. This boosted Assore’s headline earnings from ZAR 1.1 billion in the H1 to ZAR 2.4 billion in the following 6 months.

Mr Desmond Sacco chairman of Assore said that "Despite difficult market conditions‚ we produced results that are consistent with last year‚ mainly due to record iron ore sales volumes."

The chrome division saw record sales ofchrome ore after the suspension by Assmang of charge chrome production at Machadodorp in Mpumalanga. This was because of depressed global market conditions for ferrochrome and also the increasing cost of electricity in South Africa. Meanwhile‚ Assmang recorded an impairment charge of ZAR 312 million against furnaces and associated equipment in its manganese and chrome divisions‚ as these had become unprofitable to operate.

The bulk of ZAR 4.1 billion of group capital expenditure was in Assmang‚ down from ZAR 4.5 billion last year. In June‚ the group got conditional approval for the USD 328 million construction of JV manganese alloy smelting facility in Malaysia‚ made up of Assmang as majority shareholder‚ and Sumitomo and China Steel.

Assore expected global crude steel production to fall in the short term‚ which‚ together with more Australian iron ore becoming available was expected to put pressure on iron ore prices. New South African entrants into the manganese ore market are putting pressure on prices of medium grade manganese ore. This has also negatively affected prices of high grade ore.