March 10th, 2010
Global Specialty Metals Inc, one of the world's largest silicon metal producers, wants to use its cash to buy businesses, and is looking to China to help fuel growth, its top executive said on Tuesday.
"We built up cash on our balance sheet. We have about $230 million because we're looking for opportunities to acquire other businesses in identical or similar... spaces so we can not only focus on the business that we're in, but also widen our offerings," Executive Chairman Alan Kestenbaum said in a Mining and Steel Summit in New York.
The company, which went public last year, mines and produces silicon metal, which is used to make things from shampoo bottles and aluminum cans to automotive castings and solar cells.
China, which produces roughly 600,000 tonnes of silicon metal per year, consumes some 300,000 tonnes of it annually and Kestenbaum sees Chinese demand as a major area of growth.
Global Specialty expects strong silicon demand in 2010, with growth in traditional industries like chemicals, and new ones like renewable energy, Kestenbaum said.
The company sells silicon metal to solar suppliers, which use silicon to make photovoltaic cells that help turn sunlight into electricity.
"This is the only metal that I'm aware of that not only has the regular economic growth rate of consumption of metals, but has the added feature of a relatively brand-new application that it is enjoying right now," Kestenbaum said.
Global Specialty Metals Inc, one of the world's largest silicon metal producers, wants to use its cash to buy businesses, and is looking to China to help fuel growth, its top executive said on Tuesday.
"We built up cash on our balance sheet. We have about $230 million because we're looking for opportunities to acquire other businesses in identical or similar... spaces so we can not only focus on the business that we're in, but also widen our offerings," Executive Chairman Alan Kestenbaum said in a Mining and Steel Summit in New York.
The company, which went public last year, mines and produces silicon metal, which is used to make things from shampoo bottles and aluminum cans to automotive castings and solar cells.
China, which produces roughly 600,000 tonnes of silicon metal per year, consumes some 300,000 tonnes of it annually and Kestenbaum sees Chinese demand as a major area of growth.
Global Specialty expects strong silicon demand in 2010, with growth in traditional industries like chemicals, and new ones like renewable energy, Kestenbaum said.
The company sells silicon metal to solar suppliers, which use silicon to make photovoltaic cells that help turn sunlight into electricity.
"This is the only metal that I'm aware of that not only has the regular economic growth rate of consumption of metals, but has the added feature of a relatively brand-new application that it is enjoying right now," Kestenbaum said.
