GLOBAL Ferronickel Holdings Inc. (FNI) has signed an Annual Purchase Agreement with Baosteel Resources International Co. Ltd. for the supply of 1.5 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore for the 2023 mining season.
The nickel ore will be coming from FNI’s operating mines in Surigao del Norte and Palawan, operated by Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC) and Ipilan Nickel Corp. (INC), respectively.
“Our two operating mines have given us the ability to undertake year-round production to better support the growing demand from China. The easing of COVID-19 restrictions and the robust growth of China’s property sector that is driving the need for stainless steel will help boost the nickel industry,” FNI President Dante R. Bravo was quoted in a statement as saying.
Under the purchase agreement, one-third of the shipment will be composed of lowgrade nickel ore with 0.90-percent nickel content and 49-percent iron content while the remainder will be medium-grade to high-grade nickel ore with 1.30-percent to 1.60-percent nickel content and 15-percent to 25-percent iron content.
The selling price of each shipment will be set on a monthly basis according to the prevailing market price at the time of price setting.
FNI was last traded at P2.35, down 1.67 percent, at the Philippine stock market.
Baosteel is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese steel manufacturer China Baowu Steel Group and is engaged in the business of mineral resource investment, trading, and logistics services.
The company highly specializes on trading of metallurgic raw material with annual volume of over 60 million tons covering a vast range of products such as iron, ore, coal, alloys, non-ferrous metals, ferrous scraps, metallurgical flux, etc. Baosteel Resources said it maintains more than a hundred overseas suppliers and over 40 overseas clients. The company’s headquarters is located in Hong Kong with footprints in Australia, Singapore, South Africa and Indonesia, among others.