Analysis before buying or selling Eramet shares

General presentation of Eramet

The Eramet Group is a French company specialising in the extraction, production and sale of non-ferrous metals. However, the company is also active in the production and processing of certain alloys. To better understand Eramet's activities, they can be divided into different categories according to the share of turnover they generate, as follows:

• Manganese production, mining and sales are Eramet's most important division, accounting for more than 52.5% of the company's total turnover. It includes various products such as oxides, sulphates and chlorides, for which Eramet is the world leader, and manganese ores and alloys, for which Eramet is the world number two. In addition to these products, Eramet also offers ancillary services in the recovery and recycling of metals from oil catalysts and electric batteries.
• Steel alloy mining, production and sales activities account for 29.8% of the Group's total turnover. Eramet is the world's number two in the high-speed steel and closed die-forged parts for aerospace and power generation segments, but it also produces high-performance special steels and superalloys.
• Finally, nickel mining, production and sales activities account for 17.6% of the Group's turnover. Eramet is the world leader in the ferronickel segment. It also offers high-purity nickel for superalloys and fine cobalt and tungsten powders.

Geographically, Eramet is a clearly international company that generates sales around the world. As regards the breakdown of that turnover, 10.2% of it is generated in France and 36.2% in Europe. The Asian market generates 30% of the turnover and the North American market generates 18.3%, followed by the African market with 2.5% of the turnover, the Latin American market with 2.2% of the turnover and finally the Oceania market with 0.6% of the turnover.

To carry out an effective historical technical analysis of the Eramet share price, it is essential to be able to link the major trend movements observed in the past to the events that have marked this company's current situation. To help you do this, we are now offering you a summary of the economic and financial history of this French group over the last ten years.

• In 2008, the Eramet Group acquired 56% of Tinfos in Norway, strengthening its manganese activities by increasing manganese alloy production, mainly refined alloys, by more than 20%. In 2009, Eramet set up a partnership agreement to sell a 34% stake in Strand Minerals in Indonesia to Mitsubishi Corporation. In the same year, Eramet reached a 100% stake in Eralloys, which combines Tinfos' activities outside its power plant. Also in 2008, Eramet launched the construction of a metallurgical complex in Gabon and a titanium processing unit in France. Finally, that same year, Eramet bought the French company Valdi, which specialises in non-ferrous metal recycling.
• 2010 will be the year of a scandal affecting Eramet after Carlo Tassara France, which holds 13% of Eramet's capital, contests the conditions of the Duval family's share exchange with SIMA and Eramet. He then asked that the exchange be cancelled. Also in 2010, Eramet joined forces with Bolloré in an agreement to explore lithium deposits. The same year, Eramet signed an agreement with STCPI to extend the SLN shareholders' agreement by 18 months. Finally, in 2010, Eramet signed an agreement with the Gabonese government to gradually increase its stake in the subsidiary Comilog.
• In 2011, Eramet will try to improve its brand image by establishing an ethical charter and joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). That same year, the Group will open its new UKAD titanium ingot processing unit and a new powder metallurgy facility in Sweden. At the end of the year, Carlo Tassara France's cancellation of the share swap between the Duval family and Eramet was finally rejected by the court, making the Duval family the Group's largest shareholder.
• In 2012, the Areva group, which had previously been a shareholder in Eramet, sold its stake in the company to FSI-Equation, a subsidiary of the Fonds Stratégique d'Investissement or FSI. At the end of the year, the ruling concerning the Duval family and the Tassara group was called into question and there was speculation that Eramet's capital structure would be changed. It was not until 2013 that the first commercial court ruling was finally upheld and the Duval family was finally out of the woods.
• The following year, 2014, the Eramet Group completed the construction ofGrande Côte in Senegal through its joint venture with Australian company Mineral Deposite, called TiZiR. The plant was able to produce mineralized sands and generate revenues. Also in 2014, the Métafensch public research and industrial development platform in Uckangeen Lorraine was inaugurated by French President François Hollande. Eramet has been heavily involved in the centre.
• In 2015, it was the Gabonese metallurgical centre in Moanda that was inaugurated, under a public-private partnership with the State of Gabon. This plant was the country's very first in the country's manganese ore processing sector.
• In 2016, the Eramet Group sold several of its assets with the disposal of BMC, GCMC, Erachem, Eurotungstène or Sovimab.
• Finally, in 2017, the group inaugurated the EcoTitanium aerospace recycling plant. This plant is the very first of its kind in Europe.