Amplats standing its ground, still aiming to dominate market
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Platinum producer Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) was still aiming to create a viable long-term business, despite the current labour tensions in the South African platinum industry through which it was losing 4 000 oz of production a day, Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani said on Friday.
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) had started a strike for an entry-level salary of R12 500 at Amplats’ mines on January 23, with a resolution yet to be reached. The union was also striking at Impala Platinum and Lonmin.
“We are standing our ground and are still looking to dominate the market,” Cutifani said in the question and answer session following a presentation of Anglo’s 2013 results.
Also speaking at the presentation, Amplats CEO Chris Griffith said Amplats had lost more than 60 000 oz of production and R1.5-billion since the start of the AMCU strike.
However, he pointed out that the company had anticipated the situation beforehand and was doing well, as it had managed to build up stock before the strike started, which allowed it to sell about 200 000 oz of platinum in January.
Griffith added that the platinum producer expected to start seeing progress in the wage negotiations at the end of the month, when the workers were, once again, hit by a month-end without a pay cheque.
“The pressure against AMCU is rising and we are not in a position that we are overly concerned,” Cutifani added.
Neither, he said, was Anglo too concerned about AMCU’s 5% foothold at its subsidiary Kumba Iron Ore, noting that, while AMCU was a dominant player in the platinum industry, its recruitment was flattening.
“Currently AMCU’s membership at Kumba is not flagged as a risk,” he said, as AMCU’s 5% membership did not give it many rights.
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