Lynas Moves HQ to KL from Sydney to Cut Costs; Fires Contractual Employees

Despite the recent protest against the operation of its rare earths facility in Malaysia, Australian miner Lynas said on Wednesday that it would move the company's headquarter to Kuala Lumpur from Sydney to cut costs.

The decision would bring the Lynas management closer to its production and sales facility in Western Australia and Malaysia, said new Lynas Chief Executive Amanda Lacaze.

Included in the cost-cutting strategy are to fire contractual workers, improve use of assets, pursue better procurement practices and renegotiate contracts with suppliers.

"This streamlining of office locations is the first in a series of initiatives aimed at simplifying our approach and focusing on the highest value drivers in our business" Lacaze said, quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald.

She disclosed that over the past quarter, the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant had encountered bottlenecks that affected production results. However, Lacaze added that the problem areas have been managed and each stage of the phase 1 plant, beginning from cracking and leaching all the way to solvent extraction and product finishing, have been individually operated at target capacity for that quarter.

She added that the shift of corporate headquarters would not change its listing in the Australian Stock Exchange.

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