Nickel Asia to meet target despite Taganito raid

MANILA, Philippines—Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) president and CEO Gerard H. Brimo told reporters on Tuesday that despite the recent attack by insurgents on NAC subsidiary Taganito Mining Corp. (TMC) in Surigao del Sur, the parent company has been able to stay on track to meet its target tonnage for 2011.

The company previously said that ore contracts would add up to about 9.8 million tons in 2011, almost 20 percent higher than the 8.3 million tons sold in 2010.

Brimo told reporters on the sidelines of the Asian CSR Forum in Pasig City on Tuesday that there has been more demand and “good prices” for nickel, particularly ore sold to Chinese customers. “It’s all driven by demand for nickel pig iron (NPI),” Brimo said.

TMC was one of the three companies attacked by insurgents on October 3 in Surigao del Norte province. NAC has disclosed that it suffered P500 million worth of damage. However, NAC said earlier in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, that the impact on shipments would be “minimal.”

In its report for the first nine months of 2011, NAC disclosed that demand for NPI has been strong, especially in China.

NPI has apparently become the preferred material for China’s stainless steel producers due to the limited availability of ferro-nickel and stainless steel scrap. There have also been additional cost savings due to the free iron content in NPI, the miner said.

NAC said its nickel ore shipments amounted to P9.8 billion in the first nine months of 2011.

This, the company said in a separate disclosure, was 78 percent higher than the P5.7 billion reported in the same period in 2010.