It has been yet another disappointing day of trade for the Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) share price.
Unfortunately for its long-suffering shareholders the graphite miner's shares fell as much as 6% at one stage on Wednesday, putting them within two cents of their 52-week low.
Syrah's shares did recover slightly just before the close, but still finished it down by 5% at $2.23.
Much to the delight of short sellers, this latest decline means that the embattled company's shares have now lost 53% of their value since the start of the year.
Why are Syrah's crashing lower again?
This morning Syrah released an update on production at its Balama graphite project in Mozambique.
According to the release, the company has run into further issues at the site which have had a negative impact on its output.
Management has advised that production during the latter part of September has been primarily impacted by later than expected sourcing and fitting of filter cloths, which are routine consumables.
This trivial issue means that production for the month of September is expected to be approximately 15kt of natural flake graphite, compared to the estimate of 18kt management gave at the start of the month.
The good news is that this cloth issue is not expected to happen again. Management has advised that the causes of the procurement delay have been addressed and they do not expect it to be a recurring issue.
Should you buy the dip?
I think issues like this demonstrate why Syrah has been the most shorted share on the Australian share market for the majority of the last 12 months.
While there's a lot to like about the Balama project, unfortunately the company operating it continues to let down shareholders.
I would suggest investors stay clear of Syrah and focus on reliable miners such as BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP), Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO), or South32 Ltd (ASX: S32).
