Nickel Asia net income soars in H1

MANILA, Philippines — Listed Nickel Asia Corp. reported a 579 percent jump in its net income in the first half, driven by higher ore sales prices and volume.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Nickel Asia said its net earnings reached P2.73 billion, higher than the P401.4 million registered in the first semester of 2020.

Nickel Asia sold a total of 8.3 million wet metric tons (WMT) during the period at a weighted average realized price of 25.47 per WMT.

This is higher compared to the 7.3 million WMT at $16.02 per WMT sold in the same period last year.

The company exported 4.56 million WMT of saprolite and limonite ore at an average price of $37.50 per WMT, higher than the 3.28 million WMT at $26.03 per WMT exported in the same period last year.

Nickel Asia also delivered a total of 3.74 million WMT of limonite ore to Coral Bay and Taganito HPAL plants, the prices of which are linked to the London Metal Exchange (LME), and realized an average price of $7.92 per pound of payable nickel.

“Demand for nickel remains strong due to surging stainless steel output, driven by the recovery of the construction, manufacturing, and oil and gas sectors, and accelerating demand from the EV battery industry,” Nickel Asia president and CEO Martin Antonio Zamora said.

“Further, nickel supply disruptions, due in large part to the Indonesian ore export ban and COVID-19 related lockdowns, provide additional support to the price of nickel,” he said.

Supported by higher LME prices, recognized gain from Nickel Asia’s equity share in its investments in the two HPAL plants amounted to a total of P244.1 million, a turnaround from the  P70.6 million loss incurred last year.

Nickel Asia is the country’s largest producer of lateritic nickel ore and is one of the largest in the world.

It exports saprolite and limonite ore to processors in China and Japan, and sells limonite ore to downstream processing plant affiliates.