FNI 2020 NET INCOME JUMPS 43%

The country’s second-largest nickel producer, Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. (FNI,) saw its annual net income grow by 43 percent to P1.86 billion in 2020 from P1.30 billion in 2019.

“Despite the decrease in volume versus the previous year, the higher prices of nickel in 2020 had a positive impact on our top line and improved efficiency in our operations had contributed to our bottom-line growth,” said FNI president Dante Bravo.

The company was able to ship the equivalent of only 103 vessels last year against 108 vessels in 2019, or 5.63 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore.

FNI said in a statement that the lower volume was due to the temporary suspension of its operations in April as the government imposed lockdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

During the period, the realized price for nickel ore was at $26.16 per WMT on average, up 20 percent from the previous year. This pulled FNI’s earnings up despite the dip in shipments and the higher volume of low-grade nickel ore against medium-grade nickel ore.

Despite the lockdowns, Bravo said FNI was set to start the construction of its $50-million steel manufacturing plant in Bataan province.

Once finished, this would allow the company to gain a 6-percent market share in an industry that uses 10 million metric tons of steel annually.