OneSteel is still having trouble with its Whyalla blast furnace which first had problems 10 days ago.
The company told the ASX yesterday the furnace now can’t be restarted and it may take four weeks until it returns to normal operating levels.
The Whyalla furnace was shut down on Sunday, April 11, following an incident that released "hot material".
On Monday it said that fault had been repaired last week, but the need for further repairs had seen it shut down last weekend.
Those repairs were to have been completed on Monday and the furnace restarted.
But yesterday it said the blast furnace could not be restarted.
"Following stoppages over the weekend the company completed the required repairs to the Whyalla blast furnace," OneSteel said in the statement.
"But as of this morning has been unable to recommence operations due to difficulty in re-establishing connections between the blast furnace tap holes and tuyeres."
The steel maker said OneSteel now expected it would take about four weeks to return the blast furnace to normal operating levels.
"At this time the company does not believe the interruption will have a material impact on its earnings for the second half of this financial year."
The shares eased 5c to $3.91 yesterday.
CBH Resources says one if its suitors, Nyrstar, has told it that there won’t be a higher offer.
Nyrstar and Japan’s Toho Zinc Co (CBH’s biggest shareholder) have both put different proposals to the board, with Toho improving its offer on Tuesday.
That was after Nyrstar lifted its offer for a third time.
Toho proposes to acquire between 26.5% and 28.5% of shares held by CBH shareholders to give it a relative interest in the target of not more than 49.9%.
Nyrstar’s conditional proposal includes acquiring almost $100 million worth of CBH’s convertible notes and all of its ordinary shares for 19.5 cents a share, valuing the target at about $310 million.
CBH said in the statement to the ASX that Nyrstar had completed due diligence and did not plan to change its proposal, still believing its offer was the best for CBH shareholders.
A letter to CBH from Nyrstar said: "We note that Toho has provided an increased proportional offer for CBH shares on April 19.
"We continue to believe that the possible Nyrstar proposal provides shareholders with a significantly superior outcome to Toho’s proposal.."
CBH said a committee of CBH directors who are independent of Toho were to consider the new bid and provide advice to shareholders.
CBH shares eased 1.5 cents yesterday to 20c as expectations of a higher offer from Nyrstar disappeared.
And CSR Ltd says it’s still in discussions with Chinese company Bright Food regarding its conditional, non-binding offer to acquire CSR’s Sucrogen business.
The company said in a statement yesterday that media speculation regarding an approach from a Japanese consortium to acquire Sucrogen, CSR’s sugar and renewable energy business, was incorrect.
"CSR confirms that it has not received such an approach," the company said.
"However, as advised to the market on 1 April, CSR is in discussions with Bright Food regarding its conditional non-binding offer to acquire the Sucrogen business."
The shares closed up 2 cents at $1.70.
