Russian miner Nornickel said the current “geopolitical situation” has not affected the production and sales of Norilsk Nickel. This follows from the appeal of the company's board to its employees, published in the manufacturer's Telegram channel, Kallanish notes.

"We are going through difficult times and changes have affected literally every aspect of the company's activities,” the message says. “We are faced with global financial instability, turbulence in our traditional markets, serious restrictions in logistics. Despite unprecedented new challenges, Nornickel continues to work at all sites and we are mining ore.”

The company continues to produce and sell metals and to implement its investment programs, the enterprise claims.

“In this difficult situation, the main thing for us is to maintain the continuity of production, ensure regular payment of wages and strict fulfilment of all our social obligations," Nornickel adds.

The price of nickel during trading on the London Metal Exchange earlier this week rose above $30,000/tonne for the first time since April 2008 on fears that that, due to the current geopolitical situation, there may be problems with the supply of these metals from Russia, the company observes.

Earlier, Nornickel said it expects demand for nickel to rise to 1 million t/year globally by 2030 due to increased production of electric vehicles.

The company plans to produce 205,000-215,000 t/y of nickel this year, and copper output may grow to 365,000-385,000 t/y. In 2022, Nornickel expected the nickel market to swing to a mild 42,000 t surplus, but this was before the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

In 2021, its consolidated nickel production decreased by 18% on-year to 193,000 t due to major accidents. Last year, Nornickel’s copper output decreased by 16% on-year to 407,000 t. However, its revenue increased by 15% on-year to $17.9 billion.

Russian nickel shipments and copper deliveries decreased in 2021 due to export duties. Exports of unprocessed nickel fell by three times on-year to 45,400 t and shipments of unprocessed copper last year amounted to 463,000 t, down by 1.7 times on-year.