Justin Brown

The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa was very slightly lower on Thursday, with the market getting good support from the financial sector, especially banking group Absa and Sanlam. By 12h23, the all share and all share industrial indices were down 0,01% and 0,17% respectively.

The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa on Wednesday touched its best level since early June 2002 ahead of Thursday’s September equity futures. At 12h00, the all share and all share industrial indices were 0,40% and 0,47% firmer respectively. At 12h00, the all share and all share industrial indices were 0,40% and 0,47% firmer respectively. Financials were up 0,17% and the banks index was 0,18% higher.

The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) on Thursday ticked higher, after two days of consolidation, on buying interest, with volumes very thin, equity brokers said. By 12.05pm, the all-share index was 0,69% higher. Resources climbed 0,75% and the gold-mining index was 0,71% higher.

Short-term insurer Santam on Wednesday reported a 181% increase in its interim headline earnings per share to 518 cents for the half-year ending June 2004, up from 184 cents in the same period in 2003. The group also declared an interim dividend per share of 95 cents, up 32% from 72 cents in the previous comparative period.

With global steel production and consumption running at all-time record highs, steel prices around the world have been showing prodigious gains, with United States hot rolled steel coil at all-time highs, said United Kingdom steel consultancy Meps in a statement on Monday.

South African steel producer Ispat Iscor’s share price on Monday soared to an all-time high ahead of the group’s interim financial results on Wednesday, when it is expected to announce strong results driven by a high global steel price and restocking by local consumers of steel.

World number-one rough diamond miner De Beers, 45% held by Anglo American, on Wednesday announced that its marketing division, the Diamond Trading Company (DTC), will with effect from its August 2004 sight increase rough diamond prices by an average of 5%.

The CEO of world number-one platinum miner Anglo Platinum (AngloPlat), Ralph Havenstein, on Tuesday warned that the strength of the rand, at about R6 to the dollar, is threatening AngloPlat’s expansion plans and jobs. AngloPlat is currently in the process of expanding its platinum output to meet the strong global demand for the metal.

South Africa’s minister of agriculture and land affairs on Monday launched the country’s charter for the agricultural sector, which aims to eliminate racial discrimination from the entire agricultural value chain. The charter proposes making available an additional 20% of agricultural land to historically disadvantaged individuals and communities.

World number-one rough diamond miner De Beers, 45% held by Anglo American, is expected to have had its best first-half sales performance in the six months to June 2004 since its 2000 financial year, a survey of four analysts shows. Sales at De Beers’s marketing arm, the Diamond Trading Company, for the six months to June are expected to be $3,15-billion.

South African oil and chemicals group Sasol recently opened its 100th service station and is on course to achieve its target of opening 150 service stations by the end of the year. The roll-out of Sasol’s service stations follows the merger between Sasol Oil and Exel Petroleum.

The weaker dollar has pushed spot gold to a three-month high on Monday. The metal was quoted at $408,50/oz up from Friday’s close of $407,58/oz. Platinum also touched a month-high of $828,50/oz earlier on Monday as the yen continued to assert itself over the American currency.

South African mining production for the three months to the end of May 2004 soared by 8,1% year-on-year (y/y) and was up by 2,6%, after seasonal adjustment, compared with the previous three months, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Tuesday.

South Africa’s Competition Tribunal on Tuesday released the reasons for its decision to approve the merger of LNM Holdings NV — the world’s second-largest steel marker — and South African steel producer Iscor to create Ispat Iscor. On June 8, the Competition Tribunal unconditionally approved the merger.

The debate about the South African government’s empowerment equity requirement in greenfields mining projects remains "fluid" and up for debate, Department of Minerals and Energy Deputy Director General Joacinta Rocha said on Thursday. The mining empowerment charter only covers existing mining operations, Rocha said.

Talks between world number-five gold miner Harmony and the group’s unions, including the National Union of Mineworkers, regarding the closure of shafts has reached a deadlock, the NUM said in a statement on Wednesday. The parties have failed to make any significant progress since the agreement of a framework in May.

South African gold miner Durban Roodepoort Deep (DRD) on Wednesday announced that it has lodged a second supplementary bidder’s statement in relation to its hostile takeover bid for Australia’s Emperor Mines. But an independent report says DRD’s offer to Emperor shareholders is neither fair nor reasonable.

The world’s fifth-largest gold miner, Harmony Gold Mining, on Tuesday announced that it has completed its acquisition of Avgold, following the sanction of the High Court and the order of the court subsequently being registered by the Registrar of Companies.

The National Union of Mineworkers on Monday slammed world number four gold mining group Gold Fields for its statements last week that previous wage agreements in the gold-mining industry had been too high. Last week the gold miner also accused South Africa’s other gold-mining companies of risking the sector’s future.