This rising star seems to have been overlooked by this board. It is strongly tipped in todays Sun Times as extremely undervalued still with much more interest when it moves to the main list in a few weeks time--straight into the ftse 350. The institutions are coming onboard and I'm happy with my long term hold.

I've had my fingers burned twice with this stock! I hope not to make it a hat trick

International Ferro Metals Limited
("IFL" or the "Company")

Agreement with Eskom

1 March 2012

International Ferro Metals Limited, the integrated ferrochrome producer, announces that it has reached an agreement with Eskom to assist with the power utility's electricity supply requirements by participating in its electricity buy-back programme for an agreed period.

IFL has agreed to switch out the first furnace from 1 March until 31 May 2012, and the second from 1 April until 31 May 2012. IFL has the option, under this agreement, to switch back in the first furnace on 1 May, provided one month's notice is given by 31 March.

Under this agreement, Eskom will buy back the electricity which would have been consumed by the two furnaces, at a rate that results in a net financial benefit to the Company.

IFL's contractual commitments to customers will not be affected as these will be serviced from existing ferrochrome stock and production from the second furnace, which will be switched out on 1 April.

Both shutdowns will be executed in a safe and secure manner and we expect switching back in to be a quick and secure process as the furnace performances have been proven after the roof rebuild project.

No job losses will occur as a result of the buy-back programme and the furnace shut downs will not significantly impact our other mining and ore beneficiation operations, including the operation of the UG2 plant. Furthermore, Bank of China, IFL's lender, is agreeable to this decision.

Chris Jordaan, Chief Executive Officer of IFL commented:

"This agreement is value accretive for IFL shareholders, cash generative for the Company, helps our national power utility manage its maintenance programme before the winter period, and is agreeable to our lender."




For further information please visit www.ifml.com or contact:

International Ferro Metals Limited Tel: +27 14 574 6302
Chris Jordaan, Chief Executive Officer

Brunswick Group Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959
Carole Cable / Kate Boothman-Meier

Numis Securities Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7260 1000
James Black / Stuart Skinner / Alastair Stratton


About International Ferro Metals:

International Ferro Metals produces ferrochrome, the essential ingredient in stainless steel, from its integrated chromite mine and ferrochrome processing operations in South Africa. International Ferro Metals is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol IFL.

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains certain forward looking statements which by their nature contain risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and depend on circumstances that occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward looking statements.

chess no fingers burnt this time as they are closing down their furnaces=zero production, not good news.

The results below are obviously better than expected, hence price rise.

IFL production falls
StockMarketWire.com
International Ferro Metals' alloy sales totalled 52,930 tonnes in then three months to the end of March - 9% down from the previous quarter but 9% up on a year ago.

IFL said it moved back into overall profitability on a monthly basis for March and operations were cash generative.

Ferrochrome production fell to 48,762 tonnes in the period - down from 54,142 tonnes in the previous quarter and 51,446 tonnes a year ago.

Chief executive Chris Jordaan said: "International Ferro Metals is making excellent progress in improving its competitiveness through initiatives such as an improved reductant mix, furnace roof rebuild, the UG2 plant and the co-generation plant.

"his has been augmented by the attractive short term benefit of our agreement with Eskom, which is value accretive to shareholders.

"Underlying performance is strong, and the company's move into profitability from March demonstrates the momentum we have built up.

"This performance is expected to strengthen as the full benefit of the cost reduction projects, for example the CRP UG2 project amongst others, comes through.

"The board believes IFL is in a stronger position than for some time, and well placed to benefit from any further improvement in the ferrochrome market."
At 9:22am: (LON:IFL) share price was +1.75p at 17p

IFL cost saving strategy 'on course'
StockMarketWire.com
International Ferro Metals remains confident its cost reduction strategy is well on course to deliver improved and sustainable margins.

The company said the Sky Chrome mine ramp up to a record 73,000 tonnes per month run-of-mine was achieved in August and development of the open pit box-cut has progressed to plan.

Sky Chrome provides low cost chrome ore for the smelting operations and now fully compensates for the closure of the Lesedi open pit mine, which reached end of life in July as previously announced.

IFL also said management was very pleased to report that the furnaces had performed better than expected during July and August and produced 39,700 tonnes of ferrochrome.

As previously reported, the company voluntarily reduces load during specific expensive peak winter tariff hours to reduce production costs. The winter tariffs are effective from June to August every year and the load reductions are expected to reduce ferrochrome production volumes by about 10% during this period.

It says efficiencies during July and August were especially gratifying in terms of ore, reductant and electricity consumption.

IFL said the Co-gen facility continued to improve and achieved a record production of 5.5GWh in July, or 6.9% of the company's total power demand.

In August, this was eclipsed by a new record of 8.1GWh. This equates to 10.2% of total power demand, a level that we expect to continue as we move towards our 11% target when all engines are running at full capacity

The UG2 programme continued as planned, having seen delivery of the full contractual 15,000 tonnes per month of chrome concentrate since April this year. The use of UG2 in the smelting process has reached new levels as the feed to the pelletising is gradually increased and reached 7,000 tonnes in August.

It adds: "These ongoing improvements are helping the company to attain its goal of repositioning itself towards the lowest end of the cost curve.

"With the achievements reported for the new financial year so far, the company remains confident that the cost reduction strategy deployment is well on course to deliver improved and sustainable margins."

At 8:15am: (LON:IFL) share price was +0.88p at 14.63p

If this news doesn' give the stock a lift, I don't know what will !


23 October 2012

International Ferro Metals Limited

("IFL" or the "Company")

Interim Management Statement to 23 October 2012 and

Production Report for the three months to 30 September 2012

Highlights:

· Ferrochrome ("FeCr") production of 57,949 tonnes for the quarter up 83% on the quarter to 30 September 2011

· FeCr sales of 54,003 tonnes for the quarter, up 29% on the quarter to 30 September 2011

· Sky Chrome mining operations produced a record 190,000 tonnes run-of-mine ore for the quarter, up 54% on previous quarter

· Co-generation plant produced a record of 19.5GWh of electricity for the quarter, 8.4% of total electricity requirement

· UG2 Chrome Recovery Plant ("CRP") delivered 43,400 tonnes in the quarter, 1,600 tonnes below contractual commitment as a result of the unprotected strikes in the platinum sector

· 64% of targeted production cost savings achieved for the quarter; up from 40% for FY2012

· Net borrowings increased from ZAR308 million at 30 June 2012 to ZAR390 million at 30 September 2012, as expected

· Capex was ZAR16.4 million for the quarter

· Zero fatality track record maintained and further significant improvement in overall safety performance



Post period end:

· Benchmark European FeCr price decreased by 15¢ to US$1.10/lb for the quarter ending 31 December 2012

· UG2 CRP at Anglo Platinum shut down on 12 September due to unprotected strikes and no UG2 has been received so far in October






Three months to
30 Sep 2012

(tonnes)
Three months to
30 Jun 2012

(tonnes)
Three months to
30 Sep 2011

(tonnes)

FeCr production
57 949
18 505
31 637

FeCr sales
54 003
14 396
41 929

FeCr stock at quarter end
14 795
10 849
14 984






Commenting on the update, Chief Executive Chris Jordaan said:

"This quarter was a record breaking quarter for IFL. We achieved record chrome ore production from the Sky Chrome mine, we generated a record 8.4% of our electricity requirements from the Cogen plant, and ferrochrome production from the smelters is the second best quarter ever and would have been a record if we adjust for the peak hour power reductions due to high winter tariffs. We continue to focus on bringing costs down and we have achieved 64% of our targeted cost reduction.

"Overall, we are delighted by the progress made over the quarter - our costs continue to come down and our production continues to improve, which puts the Company in good stead for the future."


Stainless steel and ferrochrome markets
The stainless steel market slowed significantly during the third calendar quarter of 2012 as a production overhang exerted pressure on prices and industry profitability. This indirectly affected ferrochrome demand and prices.

The European Benchmark Price of FeCr decreased in the last two quarters of calendar 2012 from 135¢/lb in Q2 to 125¢/lb in Q3 and 110¢/lb in Q4. This is mainly due to softening market demand resulting from continued negative sentiment from the Eurozone debt crisis, which also negatively impacted the Asia-Pacific region as reported GDP growth in China dropped below 8%.

Ferrochrome prices in China, which are dominated by domestic supply, had a significant impact on global ferrochrome spot price trends. Both stainless steel and ferrochrome markets remained depressed throughout the third quarter, which resulted in an increasing disconnect between the European Benchmark Price and the spot market, and ultimately led to the 12% decrease in the Q4 2012 benchmark price.

Health and Safety, and the Environment ("HSE")
The Company had no fatalities during the quarter and remains fatality free since inception, representing 22.9 million fatality free man hours. This equates to 2.87 million fatality free shifts as at 31 September 2012, an improvement on the last period of 21.2 million hours. The 12 month moving average lost time injury frequency improved from 4.36 at 30 September 2011 to 3.57 at 30 September 2012 as a result of a further visible leadership and focus on adherence to critical risk controls. IFL is pleased with its fatality free track record and the progress made in safety performance, and is committed to maintaining these high standards in the future.
No environmental incidents were reported in the period under review.
Mining
Run-of-mine ore production for the quarter to 30 September 2012 decreased to 243,600 tonnes from 293,400 tonnes in the prior quarter. The ramp up at Sky Chrome progressed to plan and has consistently exceeded 70,000 tonnes per month of run-of-mine ore since August 2012 (August production was 73,000 tonnes as previously reported).

As expected, the Lesedi open pit reached its end of life in July 2012 and therefore did not produce any ore in August or September. As such, production for the quarter was 13,000 tonnes compared with 87,000 tonnes in the corresponding period last year. Production from the Lesedi underground mine also declined over the quarter (from 82,000 tonnes to 40,000 tonnes) as JIC, the Company's underground mining contractor at Lesedi, dismissed approximately 50% of its workforce in July. The Lesedi underground mine produced 14,000 tonnes run-of-mine during August as announced on 11 September 2012. IFL is currently evaluating underground mining options at Lesedi to ensure optimised production. The temporary drop in production at Lesedi is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's performance given the ramp up of its open pit operations at Sky Chrome.

The ramp-up of Sky Chrome has more than adequately replaced the production lost from the Lesedi open pit and has made up for most of the production lost from the Lesedi underground operation. The Company has a number of available options to replace any potential shortfall of ore production going forward.

Chrome ore production
Three months to
30 September 2012
Three months to
30 June 2012
Three months to
30 September 2011

(tonnes)
(tonnes)
(tonnes)

Lesedi
53,400
169,800
191,600

Sky Chrome
190,200
123,600
71,900

Total
243,600
293,400
263,500

Recovery rate (%)
55%
62%
59%




Recoveries for the quarter from the ore beneficiation plant averaged 55% compared with 62% in the previous quarter. The recoveries were negatively influenced in the period under review due to lower grade weathered material from Sky Chrome. It is expected that recovery rates should stay at these levels until such time as Sky Chrome has mined through the weathered material, which is expected in the next 12 months. The recoveries were enhanced by the ore concentrate recovery plant which produced 11,700 tonnes, up 12% on the previous quarter.

Smelting
Production for the quarter was 57,949 tonnes compared with 18,505 tonnes for the previous quarter. This was in line with management expectations due to the start-up in June 2012, which went without delays and full load was achieved in the second half of June. During the expensive peak winter tariff hours the furnaces were operated at reduced load resulting in an estimated 6.4% reduction in furnace production during July and August.

Management actively continued to pursue operational improvements, and these have had noticeable benefits over the quarter. Reductant feed ratio optimization continued through the quarter, resulting in record anthracite usage for the quarter. This contributes to further reduction in cost. Furnace stability also improved, resulting in improved ore and energy efficiencies. Stable gas plant performance resulted in improvements in the fuel supply to the co-generation plant and the sinter plant. These positive effects improved co-generation output and lowered sinter production cost, which further contributed to the reduced smelting cost. Further improvement in the smelting performance is expected going forward.

Co-generation plant
For the quarter under review, the Cogen plant reached a new record and generated 19.5GWh of electricity which represents 8.4% of the Company's total electricity requirement for the quarter, compared to 3.7GWh for the previous quarter which had only one production month. The output of the plant is directly related to the stability and performance of the furnaces. At steady-state production from the smelter, the Cogen plant should provide the Company with 11% of its total electricity requirements.

UG2 Plant
The UG2 Chrome Re-Treatment Plant ("CRP") at Anglo Platinum's Waterval operations in Rustenburg delivered its full contractual volumes in July and August. However, the CRP plant was shut down on 12 September 2012 due to strike action at Anglo Platinum and only 13,400 tonnes UG2 was received for September. Under the supply agreement, IFL has the right to receive the first 15,000 tonnes of metallurgical concentrate production per month from the UG2 CRP plant which has a design capacity of about 50,000 tonnes per month of concentrate. The CRP is still not in operation and as a result, IFL has not received any UG2 in October as of yet.

The Company has sufficient supplies of ore from its own operations and other sources and is therefore not reliant on UG2 as supply to its own operations.

Sales and inventory
IFL sold a total of 54,003 tonnes of ferrochrome during the quarter compared to 14,396 tonnes in the preceding quarter, with the majority of sales to the European and US markets. The low sales volume in the previous quarter was as a result of the furnaces being shut down under the Eskom electricity buy-back programme. Ferrochrome inventory increased to 14,795 tonnes at 30 September 2012 from 10,849 tonnes at 30 June 2012. Chrome ore sales were substantially lower at 46,000 tonnes during the quarter compared to 128,000 tonnes in the previous quarter. This was due to ore being consumed in the smelter as both furnaces operated throughout the period under review.

Ferrochrome sales for the next quarter are expected to be higher, in line with higher expected production and inventory is expected to reduce. Ore sales are expected to remain stable at these levels.

Production costs
This was another strong cost reduction quarter. Ferrochrome production cost came in at ZAR6.58/lb Cr. July and August are winter tariff months when electricity costs are on average 75% higher than during summer months. The Company is targeting a cost reduction of 12% (ZAR0.76/lb) on FY2011 production cost of ZAR6.25/lb.

Adjusting for changes in unit electricity and reductant costs, this quarter's production cost was ZAR5.77/lb compared with ZAR5.95/lb for FY2012. This represents 64% (ZAR0.49/lb) of the targeted cost reduction.

The cost reduction was mainly as a result of increased anthracite consumption, improved electricity consumption, higher electricity co-generation and higher production volumes. There was an increase in ore cost but this is expected to reduce when Sky Chrome beneficiation recoveries improve and targeted levels of UG2 is consumed in the smelting process.

Cash
The Company's net borrowings increased to ZAR390 million at 30 September 2012 from ZAR308 million at 30 June 2012, in line with previous guidance. The increase of ZAR82 million is attributable to ZAR70 million utilised in working capital, ZAR20 million utilised in investing (including ZAR16.4 million of capex) and ZAR12 million utilised in financing activities, offset by ZAR20m cash generated from operations. Net borrowings are expected to increase to about ZAR420 million over the next two quarters after which it is expected to steadily decrease. This expected increase in borrowings is mainly due to a forecast increase in working capital and the pricing environment over the next quarter.

Outlook
Fifty two furnaces were shut down in South Africa during the Eskom buy-back arrangement according to CRU. This was mostly continued during the winter tariff periods. Although not all, a number of furnaces originally shut down have now been restarted in South Africa as the Eskom buy-back arrangement ended in May 2012 and with the winter tariff period ending on 31 August 2012. This has increased alloy supply. While IFL has been relatively unaffected, ongoing illegal strikes in the platinum industry have reduced UG2 supply which has resulted in some improvement in ore prices. These two opposing forces are expected to continue throughout quarter four. It is therefore expected that spot prices will remain relatively constant throughout quarter four.

The International Monetary Fund's latest global economicgrowth forecast released in October shows a gradual strengthening of activity from the low base of early 2012. Global growth is projected at 3.3% and 3.6% in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Financial easing and recent announcements of large scale projects by the Chinese Government may stimulate demand toward the end of the quarter and an increase in spot prices may be expected. Ore demand is expected to remain buoyant throughout the quarter as supply is reduced.

IFL notes the discussions around the South African chrome ore export duty and would welcome the introduction of this levy; the Company will monitor this situation closely for any further developments.



Analyst / investor Conference call

Management will discuss these results in a conference call with the investment community on Tuesday 23 October at 09.00am (UK time). Dial in details are below:

Dial-in: +44 (0) 1452 561 263

Conf ID: 54168545

- ENDS-



For further information please visit www.ifml.com or contact:

International Ferro Metals Limited

Chris Jordaan, Chief Executive Officer
+27 (0) 82 653 1463

Brunswick Group

Carole Cable / Clemmie Raynsford
+44 (0) 20 7404 5959

Numis Securities Limited

James Black / Alastair Stratton / Stuart Skinner
+44 (0) 20 7260 1000

What is going on! Some big selling , but price up nearly 0.5

Overhang being cleared, it was 23M a bit earlier

has been trying to move higher for a couple weeks but allways was up and down

does a large chart make it look a better buy?

I like your comment BB - lol!

re - chessplayer - 23 Oct 2012 08:33 - 89 of 94
If this news doesn' give the stock a lift, I don't know what will !

the overhang being cleared allways does the job

well, whatever it was, it seems to be going in the right direction for a change!!

And a follow through today, at least so far

11.675p +0.675p

International Ferro Metals Limited

FURNACE UPDATE

International Ferro Metals provides the following update with regard to its furnaces following the 30 November 2012 announcement in relation to the furnace electrode breaks. The Company can now confirm that the root cause has been addressed and the electrode paste has been completely replaced and operations at both furnaces have returned to normal.

The replacement of the electrode paste was completed in late December 2012 and since that time the furnaces have been operating at full load. The Company is confident that the electrode issue has been fully resolved and appropriate action has been taken to prevent it from happening again.
The Company will release its Production Report for the three months to 31 December 2012 on 24 January 2013.

12.625p +0.625p

on the way up now after the last retracement
There is volume today as is breaking up from the last high

Yesterday's news were much better than expected ...............

24/01/2013 - IFL sales and output better than previous guidance

Furnace repairs had less of an impact on International Ferro Metals' sales and production than forecast.

The company said the furnace electrode paste replacement was successfully completed in the three months to the end of December.

This resulted in a 10% fall in production (52,143 tonnes) and a 5% drop in sales (51,092 tonnes) compared to the previous quarter - but better than previous guidance.

And IFL said furnace 2 reached near record production in December.

Chief executive Chris Jordaan said|: "I am pleased to report that both furnaces have fully recovered from the electrode paste issue and actions taken will prevent the issue from reoccurring.

"We successfully limited the impact to production which exceeded our previous guidance and therefore the impact to sales was contained.

"At the end of the quarter, we were operating at full capacity with Furnace 2 producing near record production in December.

"The agreement with Eskom enables the company to assist with South Africa's electricity supply requirements and sell electricity back to the grid at a financially beneficial rate for the next two months.

"The second furnace will continue to operate at full production and will service our clients around the world. We are particularly delighted to have made our first alloy and ore sales into India over the quarter which we have identified as a growth market for the company.

"With our furnaces back at capacity, and our cost reduction programme moving back on track, IFL is well positioned to service a growing customer base after the Eskom agreement is completed."

my initial thought was that, having looked at MJ's chart, there was not a great deal of immediate upside - i.e. a good call of MJ's if you were already a holder ...... however, out of curiosity, i pulled up a 5 year chart (as below), so make of it what you will

on the other hand, the 1 year chart shows getting through 13.5-14 where the 200 dma also lurks, could be quite problematic

Cynic, not a very inspiring chart to say the very least ! It recalls the old saying, "from the little seed grew the great oak ". The trouble is of course that this was the other way round.

Still, it seems that some sort of recovery is underway.