Posted on 26 May 2023
Nornickel’s total sales of nickel, copper and other products to Europe have decreased in 2022 reflecting “voluntary sanctions” from some traditional partners, Kallanish learns.
According to a recent presentation by company’s vice president Vladimir Zhukov, Europe accounted for 47% of Nornickel’s sales last year, down from 53% in 2021.
The executive explained traditional partners have refused to cooperate with the company and introduced self-imposed sanctions. Nornickel and its minerals haven’t been sanctioned in the EU, UK and the US yet, but some companies seem not to want to have ties with Russian companies, Kallanish notes.
“Our traditional markets - the markets of Europe and the Americas - continue to play a large role, but their importance is declining. Over the past year, we have significantly reoriented our sales to Asian markets, China is our largest. Domestic sales have also grown,” Zhukov says.
As the focus shifts to Asia, sales in the region grew from a 27% share to 31% last year. In North and South America, sales share was unchanged at 15%. Russian and the CIS accounted for 8% of total sales in 2022, up from 4% a year earlier.
In Q1 2023, the Russian miner sold 24% of its products to European customers and 17% to North and South American buyers. Sales to Asia surged to around 45% in the same period, with Russia and the CIS accounting for 13% of the quarterly sales.
Last year, Vladimir Potanin, company’s president and Russia’s second-largest richest man, said that Norilsk Nickel will fight to maintain its position in traditional Western markets and expects to return to them once this “instability period” ends.
In December 2022, the US included Potanin and his holding company Interros on its sanctions list. The restrictions, however, do not apply to Nornickel.
In May, Nornickel said it plans to continue selling nickel through the port of Rotterdam and copper via the new transport hub in the Moroccan port of Tangier. From the North African port, distribution is carried out to Europe, North America and Asian countries.
The company plans to curb nickel production this year by 5% to 204,000-214,000 tonnes due to the lack of access to equipment. Copper output, however, may increase by 2% to 417,000-441,000 t/y in 2023 driven by rising global demand.
Source:Kallanish
