Brazilian producer Atlantic Nickel has invested BRL151mn ($27.8mn) in purchase contracts from suppliers in the Bahia region since 2018 to 2020, where it operates some of its key projects.
The company exported about 67,700mt of nickel sulfide concentrate in 2020. There are close to 2,140 establishments across Bahia registered under Atlantic Nickel from where the company buys its product and services.
The firm has allocated close to BRL75.2mn in the two year period to make purchases from suppliers in the region which accounts to 26pc of the total transaction while the remaining bRL75.7mn is allocated to suppliers in the service sector.
The company operates the Santa Rita mine in Bahia and is the only producer of nickel sulfide concentrate in the country. The material is used extensively in electric car batteries.
($1 = BRL5.43)