UBS tracked CITIC Manganese (1091.HK) for the first time, rated it as buy, and gave it a target price of HK$3.62.

According to UBS, CITIC Manganese is one of the world's largest manganese manufacturers and the largest manganese producer in China. The company has a vertical structure, owns two manganese mines, as well as downstream processing plants in China, and holds 51% of the shares in a mine in Gabon.

UBS also said that the company's total controlled reserves are 97.2 million tons; the Gabon mine has already been put into commercial operation; UBS expects production to reach 530,000 tons in 2011, and production at full horsepower by 2012 will reach 1.15 million tons/year. This should cause CITIC's total manganese ore production to increase from 1.07 million tons/year in 2010 to 2.45 million tons/year in 2012, which means that the 2010-12 compound annual growth rate reached 51.3%.

CITIC Manganese rose 2.65% throughout the day to close at HK$2.71.