Decision on Imerys-Andalusite Resources merger not expected before late March

• Autores: Laura Syrett, Myles McCormick
• Localización: Industrial Minerals, ISSN 0019-8544, Nº. 581, 2016 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Marzo)
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Paris, France-headquartered Imerys currently controls around 67% of the global andalusite market, while Andalusite Resources has a 15% market share. A deal between the two companies would therefore mean that Imerys supplied 82% of world andalusite demand.

    "I can't see how the Competition Tribunal will see the takeover as creating anything less than a monopoly," one source, who is a buyer of South African andalusite, told IM. They said that, if the merger is allowed to go ahead, users of andalusite in Southern Africa who do not wish to buy from Imerys would face high costs of transporting substitute material from other suppliers. "Imerys also controls supply of some of this substitute material," they added.

    "Imerys is of the view that the conditional approval of the transaction has the potential to provide South African users of andalusite with security of supply at favourable prices, when compared to the situation where the transaction is prohibited," an Imerys spokesperson told IM. "The transaction should then ultimately benefit South African steel manufacturers, such as Arcelor Mittal and Evraz."