Nornickel to boost nickel and palladium output in 2019

Reuters reported that Russia’s Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest palladium producer, said that its output of palladium and nickel from Russian raw material would increase in 2019. Nornickel, part-owned by Russian tycoon Vladimir Potanin and aluminium giant Rusal, said that it would ramp up output by 2025 to tap an expected boom in demand from electric vehicle makers. Mr Sergey Dyachenko, Nornickel Chief Operating Officer, said that „In 2018, the output of all our key metals, especially copper, exceeded our production guidance owing to an increase in processed volumes of concentrate purchased from Russian state conglomerate Rostec and productivity improvements.” This year, Nornickel, which vies with Brazil’s Vale to be the world’s largest nickel producer, plans to produce from Russian feedstock 220,000-225,000 tonnes of nickel, 430,000-450,000 tonnes of copper, 2.77-2.80 million troy ounces of palladium and 646,000-670,000 ounces of platinum. In 2018, consolidated nickel production was 218,770 tonnes, up 1 percent year-on-year, and consolidated copper output was 473,654 tonnes, up 18 percent. Its palladium and platinum production was 2.73 million ounces, down 2 percent, and 653,000 ounces, down 3 percent, respectively.