Assore sees H1 earnings down by almost half

Johannesburg - The iron ore and manganese producer Assore said on Wednesday it expected half-year profit to fall by almost half due to softer commodity prices.

Headline earnings per share - which strips out certain one-off items - are seen falling to between 5.31 and R6.51 for the six months through December from R9.59 a year earlier.

Prices for iron ore dropped 38% during the period, Assore said in a statement. The steel-making ingredient has been hammered by oversupply concerns and fears of slowing growth in main consumer China.

Chinese iron ore futures fell on Wednesday, with worries about oversupply of the commodity offsetting expectations that steel mills could pick up production.

Top global miner BHP Billiton said on Wednesday it saw no recovery in iron ore prices in the next few years.

Assore shares fell as much as 9% before recouping losses to trade 3% higher at R72 by 11:05 GMT.