Nickel Asia sales rise 19% in 1st half

Manila, Philippines -  Nickel Asia Corp. said sales from its four operating mines rose 19 percent in the first half this year while shipments slightly declined to P5.05 billion from P5.12 billion.

In a statement, Nickel Asia said the ongoing global macroeconomic concerns, coupled with a slowdown in China resulted in a weakening in metal prices in general during the first semester.

Nickel ASia president Gerard H. Brimo, however, said he expects demand for some ore types to remain strong, which should translate to higher volume compared to last year.

Nickel Asia reported that all four mines sold an aggregate 5.02 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore in the first semester compared with 4.22 million WMT the previous level.

The average realized exchange rate during the period stood at P42.87 to the dollar.

The firm’s Rio Tuba mine accounted for 55 percent of total shipments or 1.1 million WMT of saprolite ore and 1.7 million WMT of limonite ore.

The Taganito mine, on the other hand, shipped a total of 495,000 WMT of saprolite ore, as well as 550,000 WMT of limonite ore mostly coming from existing stockpiles.

The company’s two other operating mines, Hinatuan and Cagdianao, commenced shipments only in April and May, respectively, following the end of the wet season. The Hinatuan mine shipped a total of 894,000 WMT of limonite, while the Cagdianao mine shipped a total of 90,000 WMT of saprolite ore and 210,000 of limonite ore.

In terms of price, the estimated realized nickel price applicable to 2.4 million WMT of ore shipped in the first half was at an average of $8.60 per pound of payable nickel as against $11.48 per pound of payable nickel during the same period last year.

The balance of the shipments for the first half was sold on the basis of a negotiated price per WMT of ore, which averaged $25.87 per WMT of ore compared to $21.73 per WMT for the same period last year.

Construction of the Taganito nickel processing plant adjacent to the Taganito mine, the country’s second hydrometallurgical downstream processing plant, proceeded well during this first half and has now exceeded the 50-percent completion mark. Commercial production is expected towards the latter part of next year.