JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The first-quarter ferrochrome production of the Xstrata-Merafe chrome venture was 76% lower than for the same period in 2008, the JSE-listed Merafe Resources said on Tuesday.

Merafe’s attributable production for the quarter was 19 000 t of ferrochrome, compared with 79 000 t for the same period the year before.

The indicative published price for the output was US 79 c/lb, compared to US 121 c/lb for the same period in 2008.

Merafe, headed by CEO Steve Phiri, said that 17 of the chrome venture’s 20 furnaces, equivalent to some 80% of annual production capacity, was suspended during the first quarter as destocking continued in response to weak demand.

But

Swiss-based diversified miner Xstrata increased its year-on-year thermal coal, coking coal, nickel, platinum-group metals (PGMs), zinc-in -concentrate and lead metal production volumes in the first quarter of the year.

The company told shareholders in a statement on Tuesday that the PGMs volumes, produced by its alloys division, had increased by 18% to 53 797 oz in the quarter ended March 31, 2009, compared with the 45 467 oz of PGMs produced in the first quarter of 2008.