African Minerals Forum

The iron ore price plummeted on Monday as negative sentiment overwhelms a market bracing for a supply glut and falling consumption. The 62% Fe benchmark import price including freight and insurance at the port of Tianjin tracked by The SteelIndex tanked $2.60 or 3.9% to $63.30 a tonne on Monday. The price of the steelmaking raw material is trading at the lowest levels since early May 2009. So far in 2015 the price has fallen 12.5% following a year in which the commodity nearly halved in value. Iron ore hit a peak above $190 a tonne in February 2011. Significant overinvestment to date will ensure that the market is well supplied, while demand from the Chinese steel sector is maturing. A painful war of attrition awaits In China, which consumers more than 70% of world seaborne trade, steel mills are cutting back on production as property and infrastructure investment in the country slow markedly after decades of breakneck growth. China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in nearly a quarter of a century last year with annual expansion of 7.4%, last seen when the country faced international sanctions in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. China’s steel output continued to grow in 2014, but at a far slower pace at less than 1% compared to the year before, according to the World Steel Association. Even more than softening demand increased supply has been blamed on the fall in the price. Global production of iron ore rose by an annual average of over 6% from 2010 to 2014 despite the fall in prices and is set to expand even further this year. The growth in output came mainly from the big three producers – Vale, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton – which even at today's price enjoy fat margins thanks to cost of production of only around $25 a tonne. Goldman Sachs released its estimates for iron ore on Friday. The investment bank cut its outlook for iron ore for this year to $66 a tonne this year, down substantially from an earlier estimate of $80: "Significant overinvestment to date will ensure that the market is well supplied, while demand from the Chinese steel sector is maturing. A painful war of attrition awaits.

MEMO

ATTENTION: All Staff
FROM: Gibril Bangura, Executive Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer

its info from FROM: Gibril Bangura, Executive Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer

The banned me and few other from LSE , so can't post there any more

This message was sent with High importance. Hello Team, Please find attached staff update for the attention of the general workforce. Kindly share with your respective teams including those on garden leave. MEMO ATTENTION: All Staff FROM: Gibril Bangura, Executive Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer Since the Mining Operations were placed in care and maintenance in December last year, we have been in continued negotiations with our internal shareholders regarding the way forward. We will continue to inform you of any changes to these positions as and when they occur. In the meantime, we are closely monitoring some encouraging developments in the downward trends of infection rates in the Ebola crisis across the country. This has been confirmed in a recent nationwide statement by His Excellency the President of Sierra Leone. We therefore remain hopeful of an improved iron ore price on the world market. The company also wishes to thank you all for your continued support and patience while we seek sustainable solutions to our current circumstances. ==END==

regret to inform the board that kay's shares in Afren took a real kicking today ..down 50% since he bought

maybe it was just one of the lse monitors..they cannot have people saying things like that but in my case it was just general "africa is corrupt" leads me to think it was Gibril or somebody working for him.Could be just the monitors though

ACCOUNT suspended i would imagine cos you spoke of the africans being lazy and backed up what ducati said..the point is somebody was watching and really did not like it.They are very nervous about these truths being told;

why? If Chinese are back up AML, with money , and you get right people as top managers , these company can run smooth , low cost , paradise for shares holders , btw why my account was suspended>

liu he did mention names ...but of course he was right.Can you see the mine without Frank Timis and Gibril ??I imagine they are too central to be replaced??