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MANILA - Nickel Asia Corp. on Thursday said ore shipments increased by a fifth in the first half of this year on the back of strong demand from China.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company said its four operating mines sold a combined 5.02 million wet metric tons at end-June, up by 19 percent from the 4.22 million a year ago.
This year's shipment was valued at P5.05 billion, slightly lower than the P5.12 billion last year.
NAC attributed the slight drop to the on-going global economic weakness coupled with a slowdown in China, which led to lower prices in the first half.
The realized nickel price applicable to 2.4 million wet metric tons of ore shipped in the first half averaged $8.60 per pound of payable nickel as against $11.48 last year.
The balance of the shipments for the first half was sold on the basis of a negotiated price per wet metric ton of ore averaging $25.87, compared with $21.73 in 2011.
The average realized exchange rate during the first semester stood at P42.87 to the dollar.
“Nevertheless, demand for some of our ore types remains strong, resulting in higher volume compared to last year. Moving forward, we believe this is sustainable,” said Gerard Brimo, NAC president and chief executive.
The company's Rio Tuba mine accounted for 55 percent of total shipments, delivering 1.1 million wet metric tons of saprolite ore and 1.7 million of limonite ore, the latter to the adjacent Coral Bay nickel processing plant.
The Taganito mine shipped a total of 495,000 wet metric tons of saprolite ore and some 550,000 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 wet metric tons, while the Cagdianao mine shipped 90,000 wet metric tons of saprolite ore and 210,000 of limonite ore.
Brimo said construction of the Taganito nickel processing plant adjacent to the mine proceeded well during this first half and has now exceeded 50 percent completion.
He said commercial production for the plant is expected towards the latter part of next year.
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