Kumba Iron Ore halves production at Sishen and cuts workforce
KUMBA Iron Ore responded to the slump in international commodity prices by halving production at its Sishen mine and cutting about 31% of Sishen’s workforce.The Anglo American subsidiary’s overall production in the June quarter was 8.9-million tonnes, 15% lower than in the matching period in 2015 and marginally lower than in the March quarter.Export sales fell 26% to 8.73-million tonnes and domestic sales fell 31% to 936,000 tonnes from the previous year, Kumba said in a production update on WednesdayTotal sales of 9.7-million tonnes was higher than production, reducing stockpiles by 26%.Kumba partially compensated for the drop in Sishen’s output by ramping up its Kolomela mine which produced 3.164-million tonnes during the June quarter, a 17% increase from the March quarter and 10% more than in the June quarter 2015.Kumba’s Thabazimbi mine produced no iron ore during the quarter, and its closure processes are going according to plan, the operating update said.Kumba, along with its ...
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