GLOBAL Ferronickel Holdings, Inc. (GFNI) agreed to ship one million wet metric tons (WMT) of ore to Baosteel Resources International Co. Ltd. in 2020.
In a statement on Wednesday, the listed nickel ore miner said that its Cagdianao mine project in Claver, Surigao del Norte will be supplying the nickel ore, which will be sold at market price.
“The supply will consist of 50% low-grade and 50% medium- to high-grade nickel ore to be sourced from PGMC’s (Platinum Group Metal Corp.)
Cagdianao Nickel Expansion Project in Surigao del Norte. Delivery is expected at the onset of the dry season in April 2020,” GFNI said.
Baosteel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese steel manufacturer China Baowu Steel Group. It has been a customer of the country’s second-largest nickel ore producer since 2014.
Baosteel has more than 100 suppliers and 40 clients, and is present in countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, as well as in some areas in Africa.
For the first nine months of 2019, GFNI said its attributable net income increased 36% to P812.540 million. Revenues went up 5% to P4.786 billion amid lower volume of nickel production by 1.5% to 4.642 million wet metric tons (WMT) or 85 vessels, year on year.
The increase was brought about by increased shipments of medium-grade ore, which accounted for 58% or 2.689 million WMT of total production. The remaining 42% or 1.953 million WMT accounted for low-grade ore. All shipments were sold to China.
The company also hopes to take advantage of Indonesia’s export ban of nickel to boost expansion of its local smelting industry starting January 2020.
By the end of the year, the company expects its bottom line to improve, driven by shipments of higher-grade ore to compensate for lower production.
Shares in GFNI increased 0.09 point or 4.97% to P1.90 each in the stock exchange on Wednesday. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang
