Mexican manganese-ferroalloy producer Minera Autlán (BMV: AUTLANB) is on the lookout to snap up an integrated, producing company or project in the 80,000-100,000t range, according to analyst Rodrigo Heredia with Mexican bank IXE.
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"They have the capacity to extract more mineral but not to refine it into a finished or semi-fished product. They are going to look for an integrated company, like themselves, to buy something that can give them sale volume quickly," Heredia told BNamericas.
"They are going to look to take advantage of market turbulence to make an acquisition."
Autlán recently announced it had commenced prep work for its open-pit Tajo Naopa mine from which some 300,000t/y manganese ore are slated for extraction starting in 2011.
On Tuesday Autlán reported that the strategic analysis process that its majority stakeholder, Grupo Ferrominero, was undertaking had concluded and that the company had decided for the moment it would continue with its current growth strategy.
Among other options, Autlán was considering buying a company for future growth, forming a strategic alliance with a foreign firm or the outright sale of the company.
The offers they received to sell the company were probably not as attractive now as they would have been at the beginning of the year, Heredia said.
Autlán has a ferroalloy production capacity of some 200,000-220,000t/y.
Mexico's Grupo Ferrominero also owns the Molango and Nonalco mines, the Tamós and Gómez Palacio ferroalloy plants and a port facility.
