Global Ferronickel renews supply deal with Baosteel

GLOBAL Ferronickel Holdings, Inc. on Tuesday said it plans to sell 1.5 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore to Baosteel Resources International Co. Ltd.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company said units Platinum Group Metals Corp. and Ipilan Nickel Corp. have renewed the purchase deal with the China-based company.

Global Ferronickel said the ore would come from the company’s operating mines in Surigao del Norte and Palawan. The price of the ore would be determined monthly based on the prevailing market price.

“This agreement and our long history together demonstrate our customer’s confidence in our business and provide further recognition of our efforts in maintaining a reliable supply chain to meet the demands for Baosteel products throughout the Asia-Pacific region and internationally,” Global Ferronickel President Dante R. Bravos said in the statement.

Global Ferronickel’s share price rose by 0.49% or a centavo to close at P2.07 apiece.

The Philippine miner said two-thirds of its ore to be sold this year is expected to be low-grade with 0.90% nickel content and 48% iron content,

It said a third of the shipment would be composed of low-grade nickel ore with 0.9% nickel and 49% iron. The remainder will be medium grade with more than 1.4% nickel content and an iron content of 12% to 23%.

Meanwhile, Global Ferronickel said it shipped 4.76 million WMT of nickel ore last year — 3.297 million WMT from PGMC and 1.466 million WMT from Ipilan. It sold 0.38 million WMT to Baosteel last year.

Baosteel, a unit of China Baowu Steel Group, has interests in mineral resource investment, trading, and logistics services.

Global Ferronickel is a holding company engaged in nickel ore mining, logistics, cement and steel production and port operations. — Adrian H. Halili