Nickel Asia exports fall 17% in value

Nickel Asia Corp. reported a 17-percent drop in the value of its shipments in the first three quarters of the year, in spite of higher shopment volume and due to lower nickel prices.

In a regulatory filing, the listed miner said that the estimated value of its nickel ore shipments amounted to P7.67 billion in the first nine months of the year, compared to P9.32 billion in the same period in 2012.

The company shipped 10.32 million wet metric tons (WMT) of ore in the period, compared to 9.56 million WMT in the first nine months of 2012.

Nickel Asia's Rio Tuba mine produced 43 percent of the volume exported during the period, shipping out 1.34 million WMT of saprolite ore and 3.13 million WMT of limonite ore. Its Taganito mine shipped out 1.15 million WMT of saprolite ore and 1.34 million WMT of limonite ore, while its Hinatuan mine shipped out 2.69 million WMT of mostly high-iron limonite ore and its Cagdianao mine shipped 240,000 WMT of saprolite ore and 435,000 WMT of limonite ore.

In the first three quarters of 2013, the estimated realized nickel price applicable to 3.52 million WMT of ore shipped averaged $7.11 per pound of payable nickel against $8.27 per pound of payable nickel in the first three quarters of 2012.

The balance of the shipment was sold on a negotiated price that averaged $19.34 per WMT from $24.75 per WMT in the same period last year. — BM, GMA News