Introduction
In order to choose site for international business one of the critical exercises is evaluating country risk. These risks can be managed through hedging, insurance and different types of financial planning which will be discussed in the later section of this report.
The word “risk” originates from Spanish word “risicare meaning “to dare”. Acquiring or developing a mine in any place requires plenty of daring. It would be foolhardy to undertake a mining project on oversea borders without understanding the risks and precautions that needed to be taken in order to manage those risks.
Thus the purpose of this report is to analyse how AngloGold Ashanti can successfully establish its mining business in Chile with minimum risk.
Risk
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The volatility of gold prices in the recent years will become evident from the table below:
Year High Low
2003 417 320
2004 456 371
2005 536 411
2006 725 525
2007 841 608
2008 1011 713
2009 1213 810
2010 1421 1058
2011 1895 1319
2012 1792 1540
2013 1694 1192
Source:(The London Bullion Market Association, 2014)
Note: The values are expressed in USD $ for gold/ounce
Apart from the spot price of the gold, a portion of AngloGold Ashanti’s gold sale will be determined by the various hedging contracts it has entered.
In addition, if the revenue of the company falls below the cost of production for considerably longer period of time; then AngloGold Ashanti may suffer from huge losses and will be forced to curtail some or all of its existing operations and capital project; forcing the organisation to change its dividend payment policies.
The financial condition and operation results of AngloGold Ashanti might be adversely affected by Foreign exchange fluctuation.
Gold is mainly a dollar-priced commodity; and the major part of the company’s revenue is linked to the dollars. Only the production costs and other operation costs are incurred in local currency. Also, a company is forced to hold some of its funds in local currencies in order to keep up with the global foreign exchange regulations. Thus if the dollar weakens, without causing a corresponding
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