Nickel Asia income down

MANILA, Philippines - Listed miner Nickel Asia Corp.’s net income declined 49 percent to P645 million in the first semester from P1.28 billion a year ago due to lower nickel prices.

For the six-month period, the company sold 5.54 million wet metric tons (WMT) from its four operating mines, slightly up from 5.02 million WMT a year ago.

The price of nickel at the London Metal Exchange applicable to 1.97 million WMT of ore shipped by the mining firm in the first half averaged at $7.54 per pound as against $8.60 per pound in the same period last year.

The balance of the shipments in the first half of the year was sold on a negotiated price per WMT of ore which averaged $20.14 per WMT compared to $26.41 per WMT in the same period last year.

The company’s operating costs fell by 10 percent to P2.65 billion in the first half of the year against P2.96 billion last year.

Production cost per WMT fell to $11.39 in the first half of 2013 compared to $13.66 in 2012.

“Notwithstanding global economic factors affecting prices of all commodities in general, we remain optimistic that our shipment volumes will continue to increase the second half of this year,” said Nickel Asia Corp. president and CEO Gerard Brimo.