Syrah Resources to cut jobs, output at Mozambique graphite project
Oct 18 (Reuters) - Syrah Resources will cut 30% of
the jobs at its flagship project Balama graphite operation in
Mozambique due to weak Chinese demand hitting prices for flake
graphite, the Australian miner said on Friday.
Syrah, for which China is a big market, is the latest
casualty of a fall in demand for battery raw materials which has
also prompted Australian lithium miners to cut
supply.[nL5N25Q1M7]
The miner said full-year output in 2020 for Balama, which
stood at 137,000 tonnes for the first nine months of this year,
would fall to 120,000-150,000 tonnes.
In addition to cutting jobs, the miner said it plans to
restructure its executive committee.
"We aim to continue to capitalise on our production
improvement plan with the ability to quickly ramp up production
in response to market conditions,” CEO Shaun Verner said
referring to the Balama project.
Its planned cost cuts are expected to reap benefit from
January 2020, Syrah said in a statement.
In September the miner signalled a likely fall in
fourth-quarter output citing low demand stemming from cuts in
Chinese electric vehicle subsidies. [nL3N260579]
(Reporting by Shreya Mariam Job in Bengaluru; editing by Jason
Neely)
((ShreyaMariam.Job@thomsonreuters.com;))
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