Wal King

I did attend the shareholder meeting and I don't want to share anything that hasn't been said already but what I want to share is a good chat I had with Wal himself after the agm. I asked him about the state of financing and others and this is only my interpretation of his answer. He said that at $90 a tonne which the presentations have been centred around there is plenty of fat on margins and SDL is making bucket loads even encountering potential mishaps, build cost over runs, and the like. Banks like fat in their projections. At $80 a tonne SDL will still make lots of money and he did go into specifics' but as the price dips below $80 the margins obviously get tighter and the banks like certainty especially when it comes to financing. He said Citi are predicting a low price throughout next year as others are predicting an upswing. Short answer no one can predict the price, less so the banks. The banks needed to see the "bottom" they needed to see an upswing and they needed to see stability before they can disperse funds. The idea that of stability was reinforced and this made me wonder if when GJ announced his retirement financing may have been on track as he did say that he would only retire when SDL had secure and safe footing. Also the big miners predicted the Chinese producers of iron ore - will close after the market has flooded and this has not happened catching them by surprise. They are losing around $50 per tonne. The new prime minister is allowing them time for cost saving, through various forms as a show of support. but this will be short term perhaps 6 months at most. he will not subsidize them permanently at these prices. When they close this will be a catalyst for a price upswing. It is not a matter of when the price will rise it is a matter of when. Simple supply and demand cycle and Wal he had lived through many. He indicated we need to be patient and things can turn around. On another note I asked Wal about "X2" funds as I had read that they have secured 5 bill in funding for projects of interest but he did not enter into any discussion on this matter even as I pressed. Interestingly he did say that Ivan Glasberg the commodities trader had been a close friend of his for a very long time and that he is a very smart man. Overall I quite liked Wal