Nickel Asia earnings rise 18% to P3.13 billion

MANILA, Philippines — Listed Nickel Asia Corp. saw its net income for the nine-month period increase by 18 percent to P3.13 billion on improved global market conditions.

In a regulatory filing, Nickel Asia  said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization jumped 24 percent to P5.93 billion while revenues grew 11 percent to P15.11 billion.

The growth in bottomline was attributed to improved ore export prices, particularly during the third quarter, on the back of a recovery in the Chinese stainless steel market.

“A strong rise in ore prices was more than enough to offset the drop in shipment volumes during the first nine-months,” Nickel Asia president and CEO Martin Zamora said.

“We remain cautiously optimistic our shipment volumes for the year will come close to the levels we had in 2019. Weather conditions in the southern part of the country, where three of our mines are located, have been favorable, allowing for an extended shipment season,” he said.

Overall, Nickel Asia sold an aggregate 14.03 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore, down eight percent, from the 15.29 million WMT sold in 2019.

In terms of prices, the firm realized an average $5.99 per pound of payable nickel on its shipments, slightly lower than the average price of $6.06 per pound of payable nickel sold in 2019.

As for export sales, prices are better at $30.06 per WMT as strong recovery in ore export prices was expected following the Indonesian ore export ban which took effect in January this year.

On a combined basis, the average price received for sales of both ore exports and ore deliveries was $19.76 per WMT compared to $16.03 per WMT in 2019.

Nickel Asia is the country’s largest producer of lateritic nickel ore and is one of the largest in the world. It exports saprolite and limonite ore to processors in China and Japan, and sells limonite ore to downstream processing plant affiliates.