Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc., the second-largest nickel producer in the country, said Friday net income rose 43 percent in 2020 to P1.86 billion from P1.3 billion in 2019 on the back of higher nickel prices.
GFNI said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the 2020 revenues climbed 9.1 percent to P7.26 billion from P6.65 billion in 2019 even as nickel ore shipments fell 4.5 percent to 5.625 million wet metric tons from 5.890 million WMT.
The group made 103 shipments in 2020 compared to 108 vessels in 2019. The fewer shipments resulted from the temporary suspension of operations in April to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
“Despite the decrease in volume versus the previous year, the higher prices of nickel in 2020 had a positive impact on our top line and improved efficiency in our operations had contributed to our bottom line growth,” said GFNI president Dante Bravo.
The average realized nickel ore price in 2020 went up by 20 percent to $26.16 per WMT from the previous year.
It said at least 68 percent of total shipments in 2020, equivalent to 3.831 million WMT, were low-grade nickel ore and 32 percent or 1.794 million WMT were medium-grade nickel ore.
The nickel mining firm plans to ship 6 million WMT of nickel ore in 2021. The group also programmed $5 million for capital expenditures this year.
GFNI operates a nickel mine in Surigao del Norte through operating unit Platinum Group Metals Corp.
The company earlier reported that PGMC’s mine area has proven and probable ore reserves of 59.45 million WMT.
“We are confident in hitting this year’s target, weather permitting, with the opening of CAGA 1 next month which is expected to boost capacity by 10 percent,” Bravo said.
The company primarily exports nickel ore to China. Its share price rose 0.37 percent Friday to close at P2.72.
