Russia's nickel, palladium output likely to rise in 2017

Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel), one of the world's largest nickel and palladium producers, plans to increase output of its main metals from Russian raw material this year, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Nornickel, which competes with Brazil's Vale SA for the rank of the world's top nickel producer, experienced falls in production of nickel, copper and platinum group metals in 2016.
The lower output was mainly due to scheduled decommissioning of an old nickel plant and ongoing reconfiguration of downstream production facilities in northern Siberia.
This year Nornickel, part-owned by Russian tycoon Vladimir Potanin and aluminium giant Rusal, plans to produce from Russian feedstock 206,000-211,000 tonnes of nickel, 377,000-387,000 tonnes of copper, 2.6-2.7 million ounces of palladium and 581,000-645,000 ounces of platinum.
In 2016, its consolidated nickel production was 235,749 tonnes, down 12 percent year-on-year. Nickel output from its own Russian feed was 196,664 tonnes.
Its 2016 consolidated copper production was 360,217 tonnes, 2 percent less than in the previous year, of which 344,482 tonnes was produced from its Russian feed.
Its 2016 palladium and platinum output was 2.6 million ounces, down 3 percent, and 644,000 ounces, down 2 percent, respectively. Palladium and platinum output from Russian feed totalled 2.5 million ounces and 608,000 ounces, respectively.