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Johannesburg - Impala Platinum [JSE:IMP] (Implats), the world's second-largest platinum producer, reported a 17% decline in its first-quarter output on Monday because a global client is no longer sending it recycled material to process.
But the company said production from its own mines and operations had increased as it continues to recover from last year's wave of wildcat and often violent strikes.
The company said production at its recycling unit fell "by 31% to 181 000 ounces of platinum ... This was largely as a result of the cessation of deliveries from a recycling customer."
Implats spokesperson Johan Theron said the undisclosed global client had stopped deliveries in part because of depressed prices for the precious metal used for making emissions-capping catalytic converters in automobiles.
"We are now looking for a new client," he told Reuters.
As a result, group gross platinum production fell by 17% to 376 000 ounces for the three months to the end of September compared with the corresponding period for the prior year.
The company currently faces the prospect of a strike by the hardline Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) after wage talks broke down.
Amcu can legally give Implats 48 hours notice for a strike but seems to be teeing it up along with bigger rival Anglo Platinum [JSE:IMP] and Lonmin [JSE:LON] for a single big strike.
But the company said production from its own mines and operations had increased as it continues to recover from last year's wave of wildcat and often violent strikes.
The company said production at its recycling unit fell "by 31% to 181 000 ounces of platinum ... This was largely as a result of the cessation of deliveries from a recycling customer."
Implats spokesperson Johan Theron said the undisclosed global client had stopped deliveries in part because of depressed prices for the precious metal used for making emissions-capping catalytic converters in automobiles.
"We are now looking for a new client," he told Reuters.
As a result, group gross platinum production fell by 17% to 376 000 ounces for the three months to the end of September compared with the corresponding period for the prior year.
The company currently faces the prospect of a strike by the hardline Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) after wage talks broke down.
Amcu can legally give Implats 48 hours notice for a strike but seems to be teeing it up along with bigger rival Anglo Platinum [JSE:IMP] and Lonmin [JSE:LON] for a single big strike.
