埃赫曼

ERAMET GROUP * A French mining and metallurgy group; * Eramet has built world leading positions in its three divisions: nickel， manganese and alloys; * Eramet is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1994， with a market capitalisation of about 2 billion USD; * 13 000 staff in the world. ***************************************************** Markets A group in motion In 2004， business continued to shift towards Asia， a major underlying trend that began in 2003. On most of the Group’s markets-alloys， steel， construction， portable energy， etc. - Eramet continues to invest in China in order to consolidate the leadership of its Manganese division， which has been firmly established there for 10 years， but also to build on its bases in other activities such as tool steels. Eramet also implements development programmes to serve the growing needs of the Chinese market， including the 75，000-ton programme for nickel in New Caledonia. ***************************************************** ERAMET NICKEL Eramet Nickel makes nickel ore in its mines in New Caledonia then converts it into Ferro nickel in the Doniambo plant near the capital， Nouméa. Using the nickel matte it produces in New Caledonia， the division also manufactures high-purity nickel and nickel chlorides in its Sandouville plant near Le Havre (France) . In addition ， Eramet Nickel makes ultrafine cobalt powders in Eurotungstène’s Grenoble (France) plant. In 2004， nickel prices reached all-time highs due to growing demand and limited supply， with an average price of 6.27 USD/ld. Demand for ferronickel for stainless steel (which consumes 2/3 of global nickel production) and for nickel for alloys rose sharply from 2003， while other outlets (electroplating，electronics) were stable. In total， the division achieved operating income of 310 million in 2004.