China stainless steel mogul fights to avoid a second collapse
A debt crisis is threatening the future of one of the world’s top stainless steel producers, Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry.
Australian takeover target Western Areas on Tuesday reported a full year net loss, hurt by lower nickel output due to operational issues at a mine earlier in the fiscal year.
The competition to secure the supply of nickel, an essential metal used in electric vehicles, has heated up alongside the demand for greener modes of transportation.
On Thursday, larger peer IGO Ltd said it was in preliminary talks to acquire Western Areas, as part of efforts to raise its footprint in battery materials.
A day after IGO’s announcement, mining billionaire Andrew Forrest, who is also in contention to acquire Canadian nickel miner Noront Resources Ltd, picked up a 5.3% stake in Western.
Western reported an over 16% drop in full-year revenue to A$257.2 million ($185.29 million) and posted a full-year net loss of A$7.7 million compared with a profit of A$31.9 million a year earlier.
The company added nickel sales fell nearly 22% for the year, as production was hit by operational issues at the Forrestania project in Western Australia.
($1 = 1.3881 Australian dollars)
(By Soumyajit Saha; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
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