Shares in one of the world’s biggest platinum producers, which have soared since mid-March, fell almost 4% before recovering to trade flat on the day as Amplats said it expects production to improve in the second half and declared an interim dividend.
Amplats has finalised its retrenchment process which is expected to affect 3 700 jobs across its South African operations. The retrenchments are part of the company’s efforts to mitigate the financial impact of declining platinum group metal prices, which have significantly reduced profit margins. The job cuts represent about 17% of Amplats’ workforce, with the most significant impact at Amandelbult in Limpopo.
Khathu Ramufhufhi, NUM’s Regional Coordinator at Anglo American Platinum in Polokwane, Limpopo, expressed the union’s worries: “As NUM, we are very worried about the impact of these job losses because our view is that one job loss is one too many. The job losses do not only impact the employees retrenched; they’ve got a wider impact on the larger society, on the larger economy.