IMPORTANT Q & A !!!!!!!!!!!

Analysts are now talking about another scarce raw materials as the next big thing. One of the talked about minerals is manganese ore. Globally, prices of manganese ore have risen sharply in the last 12 months. Nazim Shiekh, Executive Director, Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores , expect to make a turnover and profits of about Rs 1,200 crore and Rs 600 crore respectively in FY09, if manganese ore prices continue to rise. "Of that, Rs 300 crore will be from manganese ore even though the production is just 15% of the total ore production." The company recorded a PAT of Rs 57 crore as against a similar loss in the previous fiscal . Excerpts from CNBC-TV18’s exclusive interview with Nazim Shiekh:
Q: Is the sharp rise in manganese ore prices the single biggest reason why you could turn from a loss making to a profit making company? Are you a direct beneficiary of higher manganese prices?
A: We have experienced higher manganese ore prices only in the last couple of months. However, iron ore saw much better performance in 2007-08. Q: What about buyer industries who are the major consumers of your products? A: Manganese ore is basically consumed by the ferro-alloy industry in India. We do export maybe 60% of our production to China and Japan. Q: Do you see the trend continuing and if that is the case, how much contribution would manganese ore make to your topline and bottomline going forward?
A: We do expect manganese ore to remain like this for at least this year. Manganese ore is only about 15% of our total production. We mine about 2 million tonne of iron ore. Of this only about 3,000 tonne is of manganese ore and 15, 00,000 to 17, 00, 000 tonne is iron ore. But manganese ore prices have shot up. If we go by what has happened in the last couple of months, we expect manganese ore, even with just 15% production, to match the profitability of iron ore. For FY09, we expect to make a turnover of about Rs 1,200 crore and expect the profitability to be about Rs 600 crore. Of that, Rs 300 crore will be from manganese ore even though the production is just 15% of the total ore production.
Q: What about the final user industry, you said ferro-alloy companies buy manganese ore, who is the final user industries that will have to pay this higher price?
A: The steel industry which buys ferro-alloys.