Russian nickel-copper producer Nornickel expects to produce 190,000–200,000mt of nickel in 2021 and 335,000–355,000mt of copper at its Norilsk group excluding Chita mine. There, the company anticipates 65,000 -70,000mt of copper production in 2021, it said ina statement.
The group’s total nickel production in the H1 2021 fe 26pc to 79,283mt from 107,588mt in H1 2020 while it saw a 30pc decline in Q2 2021 to 32,644mt from 46,639mt in Q1 2021. Copper production in the first half was down by 28pc to 172,692mt from 239,914mt in the same half in 2020 while it fell by 11pc to 81,400mt in Q2 2021, compared to 91,292mt in Q1 2021.
At its Norilsk and Kola divisions in Russia, the company’s nickel output fell by 24pc to 56,684mt in H1 2021 from 74,455mt in H1 2020 and dropped by 27pc to 23,874mt in Q2 2021 compared to 32,810mt in the previous quarter. Copper output saw a 33pc fall to 139,946mt in the first half of 2021 compared to 208,258mt in H1 2020 and saw a 13pc drop to 64,932mt in Q2 2021 compared to 75,014 in Q1 2021.
At the company’s Zabaykalsky division, its copper production rose by 8pc to 32,746mt in H1 2021 compared to 30,259mt in H1 2020 and was up by 1pc to 16,468mt in Q2 2021 compared to 16,278mt in Q1 2021. Iron ore concentrate production rose by 46pc to 1.2mn mt in the first half of the year compared to 872,000mt annually while it rose by 1pc to 638,000mt in Q2 2021 compared to 631,000mt in the previous quarter.
Nickel output from Finland dropped by 32pc to 22,599mt in H1 2021 compared to 33,133mt in H1 2020 while it fell by 37pc to 8,770mt in Q2 2021 compared to 13,829mt in Q1 2021. Copper production in Finland fell by 100pc in H1 2021 from 1,397mt in H1 2020.