Iluka's revenue up 53pc on recovering demand

Jul. 20, 2010 - Sales revenues before hedging at Iluka Resources grew 53 per cent in the second quarter to $229 million.
The company, which mines mineral sands containing ores of the alloy metals zirconium and titanium in Australia and the US, said that demand recovery had helped it bring in full production from its Jacinth-Ambrosia and Murray Basin projects in South Australia and Victoria and ramp its US production up to previous levels.
First half sales revenues nearly doubled to $378.4m before hedging, from $195.2m last year, while second quarter revenue of $229m was up 53 per cent on the previous quarter.
But production costs rose 41.6 per cent to $265m, the company said in a quarterly production report.
Zircon production in the first half of the year was 205,400 tonnes, up fivefold on the previous year, while production of the titanium ore rutile quintupled to 101,600 tonnes.
However, synthetic rutile output slipped 1.5 per cent on year to 161,300 tonnes, and the closure of operations in Western Australia and lower proportions in Murray Basin mineral sands meant that production of ilmenite, another titanium ore, fell 12.8 per cent to 187,400 tonnes.
Demand recovery from China and Europe and continued buying from North America, as the global economy rebounded from the depths of the economic crisis, drove the improvement in zircon and titanium prospects, the company said.
It had been unable to meet customer demand for zircon and was forced to draw down raw material inventories as a result of the improvement in demand, Iluka said.