Charlotte Mathews
13 January 2009
Johannesburg — COAL and minerals company Exxaro Resources' 50% stake in the Tiwest joint venture in Western Australia would not be affected by the bankruptcy filing of its Australian partner, Tronox, it said yesterday.
Exxaro executive GM of mineral sands, Wim de Klerk, said the sale of Tronox's stake in Tiwest was a possibility and was one of the options the partners had discussed, but nothing was on the table at the moment.
Tiwest is the world's largest titanium production and manufacturing company, consisting of a mine, synthetic rutile plant and titanium dioxide pigment plant. It is busy with a $100m expansion of the titanium dioxide plant to increase output by 40000 tons a year, which would not be affected by the chapter 11 filing by Tronox, Exxaro said.
Titanium dioxide is a white pigment used in paper, paints, toothpaste and plastics.
Tronox said its bankruptcy filing did not include its operations outside the US.
Exxaro's share of the Australian sands business increased its revenue to R575m in the six months to June from R560m a year before, but it posted a net operating loss of R139m from a previous profit of R36m, reflecting depressed prices for mineral sands products, lower volumes and a strong Australian dollar, Exxaro said.
Exxaro's shares shed 1% or 98c to R72,52 on the JSE.
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