Thanks to higher shipments, Global Ferronickel Holdings, Inc. (FNI), the country’s second-largest nickel ore producer, saw its income surging to P640.8 million during the first half of the year, compared to the P195.8 million it had in the same period last year.
As for revenues, the company saw a 68.9-percent year-on-year increase, from P1.54 billion to P2.61 billion year-on-year, mainly due to higher nickel ore prices and increased shipment volume.
FNI President Dante R. Bravo said the company “garnered more favorable results this year as the market experienced a big jump in the price of low-grade nickel ore”.
“We did not experience a stoppage of operations as what happened in April last year,” Bravo further said.
To be specific, during the first six months of the year, FNI completed 32 nickel ore shipments against the 23 shipments during the same period last year, resulting in a 38.3 percent increase in shipment volume to 1.740 million wet metric tons (WMT) against the 1.258 million WMT in 2020.
These were 100 percent exported to China and consisted of 1.465 million WMT low-grade nickel ore and 0.275 million WMT medium-grade nickel ore.
The resulting sales mix is 84 percent low-grade ore and 16 percent medium-grade ore in 2021 compared to 52 percent low-grade ore and 48 percent medium-grade ore in the previous year.
The overall average realized nickel ore price for the period ending 30 June 2021 was USD 31.10/WMT compared to USD 24.38/WMT for the period ending 30 June 2020, higher by USD 6.72/WMT or 27.6 percent.
The price of low-grade ore went up by 61.7 percent to USD 31.01/WMT in 2021 against the 2020 price of USD 19.18/ WMT. Medium-grade ore, on the other hand, was USD 31.58/WMT or 5.2% higher than the 2020 price of USD 30.03/WMT.
To date, FNI has spent over 35 million pesos on its COVID-19 response. It works closely with various local government units in helping the local communities combat the spread of the virus and providing relief during this time of need.
It has donated PPE supplies, test kits, disinfectants, vitamins, medical equipment, medical services, rice, and other essential goods, and participated in building a molecular laboratory in Surigao and a COVID-19 test center in Palawan.