Nickel Asia says ore shipments fall in 2016

NICKEL ASIA Corp. on Thursday said shipments of nickel ore dropped 2% in 2016 amid lower volumes and lackluster world prices.

In a statement, the listed miner said it sold 19.3 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore last year, slightly lower than the 19.7 million WMT of shipments recorded in 2015.

“Lower shipment volumes coupled with the overall weakness in nickel ore prices led to a drop in the Company’s estimated value of shipments from P14.4 billion in 2015 to P13.3 billion in 2016,” Nickel Asia said.

Nickel Asia noted the estimated realized nickel prices on 11.7 million WMT of ore sales, mainly to Japanese and Chinese customers, last year averaged $20.82 per WMT. This compares with an average of $22.64 per WMT in 2015.

Of its four operational mines, the Taganito highpressure acid leachate (HPAL) facility accounted for the bulk or 42% of total shipments. In 2016, the mine shipped 2.3 million WMT of saprolite ore, 8% lower than the 2.5 million WMT in 2015. It also shipped 5.7 million WMT of limonite ore for the full year, 10% up from 5.2 million WMT in 2015.

Meanwhile, the Rio Tuba mine accounted for 32% of the total shipments. Broken down, this consists of 2.3 million WMT of saprolite ore and 3.9 million WMT of limonite ore.

Shipments from the Hinatuan mine during this period fell 6% to 3 million WMT in 2016, from 3.2 million WMT in 2015, while its Cagdianao mine shipped 2.1 million WMT in 2016 from 2.2 million WMT in the prior year.

“The unfavorable weather conditions and the effects of sea swells during the first half of the year resulted to delays in the start of shipments from the Company’s Hinatuan and Cagdianao mines, thereby translating to slightly lower shipment volumes in 2016,” Nickel Asia said.

Shares of Nickel Asia remained unchanged on Thursday to close P8.49 apiece. —