MOSCOW, April 24 (RIA Novosti) – Russian metals giant Norilsk Nickel is suspending the operations of its Lake Johnston enterprise in Australia to minimize production costs, the company said on Wednesday, citing unfavorable market trends.
“Under current nickel market trends, the company implements a policy of optimizing production site operations ensuring maximum effective utilization of in-house capacities,” Norilsk Nickel said in a statement.
“Enterprises that are not fully integrated in the company’s production chain (as Lake Johnston) do not provide sufficient profitability levels. A possible decision to re-launch Lake Johnston could be based on the metals market situation and geological investigations conducted on the licensed plots in the region.”
Norilsk Nickel’s announcement comes a week after the metals giant reported its 2012 IFRS net profit had plummeted 41 percent on the previous year to $2.143 billion as a result of weaker demand and lower prices on the global metals markets.
The company’s 2012 revenue fell by 15 percent year-on-year to $12.065 billion “due to unfavorable pricing trends on metals produced by the company.” The average selling price of nickel fell 23 percent in 2012 to $17,719 per ton.
