02.07.2014 (www.4investors.com)
The Australian producer of so-called Rare Earth Lynas (WKN 871899 / ASX LYC) will relocate its headquarters to Malysia, where the company's processing plant is located. Among other things, Lynas wants to reduce the workforce to cut costs while working to increase production.
Having suffered some setbacks both at the Australian mine and at the Malaysian plant, Lynas said yesterday that important elements of production had been working at its intended capacity last quarter.
According to Lynas CEO Amanda Lacaze, relocation is the first in a series of measures designed to simplify the approach. Further austerity measures include reducing workforce, renegotiating contracts with suppliers, and improving sourcing practices.
Lynas, one of only two producers of rare earth oxides outside of China, has been struggling with technical issues since starting up the 873 million AUD investment in the November 2012. The company is mining the rare earths on its Mount Weld in Western Australia and then shipping them to the plant in Pahang.
The slow ramp-up of the facility and a collapse in rare earth prices has impacted the company's balance sheet, which in May was forced to raise 40 million AUD of fresh capital and repatriate 215 million of debt. Lynas transferred the management to Lacaze in June. It builds on the marketing experience of the former telecommunications manager.
Lynas has also stated that it will wait a year before increasing the output to the full capacity of 22.000 tons per year to give the market time to recover.
Source: http://www.4investors.de/php_fe/indexgoldinvest.php?sektion=goldinvest&ID=2487
