There are also results from chemicals, agriculture and explosives company Omnia this morning. They do not paint the best outlook for the medium term, in light of a deteriorating mining outlook: "The downturn in the mining sector, which started in the last quarter of the 2014 calendar year continues. In the short-term, the situation is expected to remain weak or to deteriorate further and will probably not turn the corner for another few years."
They are taking it unfortunately on all fronts, the weaker commodity prices equals less demand for explosives, the poor weather means that fertiliser usage has been muted, the weaker economy means chemicals sales growth is unlikely to grow at any pace. Six month sales were flat, profits were nearly 20 percent lower, HEPS dropped 19 percent to 494 cents, dividend marginally lower to 180 cents, that is the only good news. We continue to recommend that you avoid until the outlook improves, judging from their commentary, that might well be a few more years.