Merafe Resources Ltd. (MRF) declined the most in more than a year after the South African ferrochrome producer said third-quarter output fell 14 percent and some of its mines were shut by a strike.
Merafe, which owns 20.5 percent of the world’s largest ferrochrome operation in a venture with Glencore Plc (GLEN), dropped 8.9 percent in Johannesburg trading, the most since Aug. 7, 2013, to 1.03 rand by the close.
Ferrochrome output for the three months ended Sept. 30 decreased to 74,000 metric tons from 85,600 tons a year earlier as sales declined 18 percent to 60,200 tons, the company said in a statement today.
The venture’s western mines near Rustenburg, northwest of Johannesburg, have been shut since the last week of September after the National Union of Metalworkers started a pay strike, Investor Relations Manager Kajal Bissessor said today by phone. Its eastern operations and all smelters are fully operational, she said.
Merafe’s mines are close to the platinum belt in South Africa, where the world’s biggest producers have operations that were crippled by a five-month strike this year.