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(AMM) Eramet woes seen putting pressure on ferromanganese prices

March 10, 2010 - 20:40 GMT Location: TORONTO

KEYWORDS: Eramet Marietta , force majeure , ferromanganese

Eramet Marietta Inc.'s force majeure declaration has put a huge amount of pressure on medium- and low-carbon ferromanganese prices, traders told AMM.

The company's No. 18 furnace at its Marietta, Ohio, plant malfunctioned Sunday night and had to be shut down. The company said the furnace is damaged but it won't know how long it will be down until a full investigation is completed.

The company said it "will have a disruption of production and availability of certain products."

"If you have prompt material, you have gold," a U.S.-based ferroalloy trader said. "I don't know where the hell that market is today; nobody does, because if you have it you're not offering it. But I don't think many people have it. I really, really don't."

A company spokeswoman said that Eramet was running two of its three furnaces at the time of the...

All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. © Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.

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