Profit drops for Arctic miner Nornickel

Russia’s largest producer of non-ferrous metals, Nornickel, posted its financial results on Friday. Net profit fell by 16 percent to $5,9 billion.

The company, with mines and factories in Norilsk in Siberia and on the Kola Peninsula, says it faced problems as economic restrictions were imposed on Russia by European and North American countries.

“To mitigate these risks Nornickel is developing relationships with alternative clients and suppliers, setting up new logistic routes and exploring new capital markets,” the company said in a statement.

The Barents Observer has previously reported on how Nornickel considers developing a transshipment hub in Northern Africa aimed to circumvent European ports.

The powerful company that is managed and partly owned by Vladimir Potanin is today increasingly looking towards markets in Asia for its products like nickel, copper and palladium, all metals important for the green economy.

Nornickel is the world’s largest producer of nickel, a core metal for production in batteries for electric vehicles. Today, China has the largest producers of nickel-lithium batteries. 

Last fall, Nornickel was hit by a damaging fire at its largest nickel electrolysis workshop in Monchegorsk on the Kola Peninsula.

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“Decline in metal sales volume driven by logistics disruptions and reorientation of sales to new markets requires additional time,” the company said in its statement when presenting the financial results for 2022.