(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
April 25 (Reuters) - South Africa's Anglo American
Platinum (Amplats) on Tuesday reported a 13% decline in
first quarter platinum group metal (PGM) output, as power cuts
and plant downtime impacted production.
The world's top PGM miner said its refined PGM output fell
to 626,000 ounces from 718,500 ounces in the first quarter of
2022, partly due to ongoing power cuts in South Africa which had
impacted 13 days of production and the equivalent of 26,500 PGM
ounces during the quarter.
Refined output was also affected by the Polokwane smelter,
the ramp-up of which was only completed at the end of January
after being rebuilt last year. The smelter was at full capacity
during the comparative first quarter of 2022.
The miner has previously warned that South Africa's
electricity crisis, blamed on frequent breakdowns of its ageing
coal-fired plants, could impact its PGM output by as much as 5%
this year, tightening global supplies.
Amplats maintained its forecast for 2023 refined PGM
production at between 3.6 million and 4 million ounces, but said
this was subject to the power situation.
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