Nickel Asia’s Q1 shipment drop 16% to P1.66 billion

Nickel Asia Corporation on Thursday said the value of its shipments in the first quarter dropped by 16 percent to P1.66 billion, reflecting the decline in world nickel prices.   The volume of shipment, however, went up by 38 percent.   “The total estimated value of nickel ore shipment in the first quarter of 2012 amounted to P1.66 billion, 16% lower than the P1.97 billion reported in the same period last year,” Nickel Asia said.   “The drop can be largely attributed to the 24% year-on-year decline in the Company’s realized LME (London Metal Exchange) nickel price,” Nickel Asia said in a disclosure with the Philippine Stock Exchange.    Per pound of nickel on the LME dropped to $11.61 from $8.78, according to Nickel Asia.   The miner said 2012’s first quarter nickel shipments reached 1.8 million wet metric tons (WMT), up by 38 percent from 1.3 million WMT a year earlier.   The ore shipments came from the Nickel Asia’s Rio Tuba mine in Palawan and from its Taganito mine in Surigao del Norte.   “The company’s two other operating mines in Taganaan and Cagdinao will commence shipments of saprolite and limonite ore beginning second quarter,” the statement read.   Nickel Asia said it has so far delivered 6.8 million WMT of saprolite and limonite ore, excluding the 2.9 million WMT of limonite ore to be delivered to its Coral Bay nickel processing plant.   Last year, the mining company posted P3.54 billion in net income, up more than 100 percent from P1.55 billion a year earlier. —RRD/VS, GMA News