SMM11, March 2 / PRNewswire-FirstCall-Asianet /-- recently, Eramet released its third quarter report, and Christel Bories, Chairman and CEO of Eramet Group, said that in a still very volatile economic environment, we have achieved excellent third-quarter results in mining production. Our mining activities have maintained a momentum of successful growth, particularly in Gabon, where manganese ore production exceeds 6 million tons per year. In New Caledonia, the growth of nickel mine exports showed a new high, increasing by nearly 60%.
Activity sales of Eramet Group:
On the nickel side, strongly affected by the sharp slowdown in the stainless steel industry and the decline in LME nickel prices in the first nine months of this year, the increase in nickel ore exports, driven by significant increases in volume and prices, enabled the business unit to achieve a stable turnover in the third quarter of 2020. Sales of SLN rose slightly (+ 1 per cent) to 194 million ou in the third quarter of 2020. In view of the epidemic and the loss of value-added markets, factory sales in Sanduville continued to be affected, falling by-5 per cent to 22 million euros.
In New Caledonia, SLN's mining production increased by + 20 per cent to 1.6 million tonnes in the third quarter of 2020 (up from 3.8 million tonnes so far this year as of the end of September, an increase of + 15 per cent).
Exports of low-grade nickel ores in the third quarter of 2020 were 600000 tons, an increase of + 6 per cent over the third quarter of 2019. According to September data, annual exports are growing at an annual rate of 3.5 million tons. Total ore exports in the nine months to date are 1.7 million tons (an increase of 61 per cent over the same period in 2019).
Ferronickel production jumped + 15 per cent to 13000 tonnes in the third quarter of 2020 (up 5 per cent to 37000 tonnes so far in the past nine months). Sales in the third quarter of 2020 also increased by 10 per cent to 13000 tons (so far, 9 per cent to 39000 tons in the past nine months).
The increase of nickel ore export volume and the positive influence of external factors lead to a significant increase in cash cost. The average price of the latter was $5.24 / lb in the third quarter of 2020, down from $5.65 / lb in the first quarter of 2020 and $5.76 / lb in the third quarter of 2019. Cash costs will continue to rise in the fourth quarter, mainly due to a sharp rise in ore prices. So far, ore prices have risen more than 20% from the third-quarter average.
Achieving all the goals of the rescue plan remains a necessary condition for the sustainable development of SLN, in particular the permission of the Government of New Caledonia to export an additional 2 million wet tons of low-grade ore (annual exports increased from 4 million to 6 million wet tons).
At Normandy, production and sales at the Sandouville plant declined again in the third quarter of 2020 compared with the third quarter of 2019 due to the technology shutdown in July in a still deteriorating market environment due to the special impact of the health crisis in the first half of the year.
In Indonesia, rapid growth in mining operations and production of low-grade Ni-Fe alloys has been successful. Since its opening in October 2019, the mine has produced nearly 2.3 million wet tons of ore. Chinese customers bought the initial goods from the Eramet off-take agreement shipped in September. The plant is now operating at an optimized capacity (35000 tons of Ni per year). As of the end of September, the annual production to date is 13000 tons, the cash cost of Ni, production is very competitive.
SLN has set a target of 2.5 million wet tons of nickel ore exports. Similarly, the production of ferronickel at the Doniambo plant will reach nearly 50, 000 tons by 2020. By 2020, the output of the, Weda Bay nickel mine and the plant are expected to provide more than 2.5 million wet tons and more than 20, 000 tons of low-grade Ni-Fe alloy (Ni content), respectively. Stainless steel production (and demand for nickel in stainless steel) will continue in the coming months, thanks to recovery plans from the global economy, particularly China.
Production and marketing situation:
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