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Lonmin setback as furnace shuts again
LONMIN, the world’s third-biggest platinum producer, suffered a setback with its troublesome number one furnace in South Africa, which was shut down again shortly after being repaired.
“Lonmin’s troubled smelter has failed yet again, further undermining the company’s outlook for the rest of this year,” said Charles Kernot at Evolution Securities. One smelter failure is a misfortune, but nine in eight years?” Evolution cut its price target on Lonmin to 1,455p from 1,559p and reiterated its “sell” rating, also due to a drop in European car sales in April.
The main use of platinum is in car catalysts to clean exhaust fumes. The firm said it would still meet it sales target of 700,000 ounces of refined platinum during this financial year.