Russia’s Norilsk Nickel will likely be selling its 50% stake in South African nickel and platinum producer Nkomati Nickel to partner African Rainbow Minerals (ARM).
According to Business Day, “Nkomati is a 50-50 joint venture between Norilsk and ARM and ARM spokeswoman Corne Dippenaar has confirmed that ARM has a right of first refusal on Norilsk’s 50% stake in the operation should it decide to sell out.”
A full-scale implementation of the Indonesian ban to export raw ore will have a seismic effect on the nickel market, choking off ore supplies to China’s NPI industry and forcing widespread imports of refined metal.
If that were to happen, the nickel price could double in months, maybe even weeks. Nickel consumers are therefore closely watching developments in Indonesia – it is the one unpredictable dynamic that could shatter expectations of an orderly surplus market.
Norilsk Nickel’s board of directors has approved the key principles of the company’s new strategy for 2014, but will not present it in full to investors until the fourth quarter.
http://www.metalbulletin.com/Article/3254212/Base-metals/Norilsk-Nickel-outlines-2014-strategy.html
Ives declared that his firm’s Nickel Rim South project in Sudbury, Canada, is “as good as it gets” .
Nickel pig iron prices in China are now above those for refined nickel, following a rally in August when stainless steel mills increased purchases.
Mainstream high-grade NPI (Ni content 10-15%) is being traded at 1,010-1,020 yuan ($164-166) per nickel unit, up nearly 10% from the level seen in early August, sources in China said. The price is around 4,000-5,000 yuan higher than the current refined nickel level, which is unusual for the market.
Russia’s Norilsk Nickel, the world’s biggest nickel producer, said it plans to slim down and focus on its top assets, joining other big mining companies in shedding businesses in the face of weak metals prices. Under its new strategy announced on Thursday, Norilsk stuck to its plan to sell off assets in Africa and Australia, despite the failure to close any deals in recent months.
The Japanese majority owner of Indonesian aluminum producer PT Inalum said there was still a big gap to bridge in talks to sell its stake to the Indonesian government, with less than two months to go before their joint venture agreement expires.
Lockheed Martin Corp on Wednesday announced the acquisition of Scotland-based Amor Group, a privately held information technology company, saying the deal would aid its plans to expand internationally and into non-defense markets.
Belgian chemicals manufacturer Tessenderlo Group said it had sold its British PVC window and doorframe businesses to private investment firm H2 Equity Partners, completing the entire sale of these activities worldwide. Tessenderlo gave no financial details about the divestment.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/12/deals-day-idUSL3N0H827M20130912
Jakarta, Indonesia, Sept 12, 2013 (Menafn – ACN Newswire via COMTEX) –IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, sees attractive investment opportunities in Indonesia in the long-term, despite investors recently withdrawing funds from Indonesia. IFC’s own investments in Indonesian companies jumped almost 50 percent in fiscal year 2013, which ended in June, from a year earlier to support infrastructure upgrades and improve financial access in the country.
BEIJING–China plans to set up a rare-earth conglomerate, the state-run China Securities Journal reported Thursday, citing Vice Minister for Industry and Information Technology Su Bo.
The “final results” of that plan will be released by the end of the year, Mr. Su said in the report.
He said the central government is also stepping up efforts with local authorities to eradicate illegal rare-earth mining.
Beijing has said the country’s rare-earth industry, which controls 95% of global output, is too fragmented and plagued by smuggling and other problems. Rare-earth metals are used in the manufacture of high-tech wares ranging from iPhones to missile systems.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-to-set-up-rare-earth-conglomerate-2013-09-11-23485198
United Co. Rusal, owner of a 28 percent stake in OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, expects the nickel producer to maintain its approach to dividend payments, said billionaire Chief Executive OfficerOleg Deripaska.
“Norilsk will keep its policy,” Deripaska, who runs the world’s largest aluminum producer, said in an interview with Mark Barton on Bloomberg Television from the World Economic Forum in Dalian, China.
Copper rose in London as signs of a rebounding economy in China, the world’s biggest consumer of the metal, prompted banks to increase growth estimates.
China’s economy will expand 7.6 percent this year, UBS AG said, above the prior 7.5 percent forecast. Deutsche Bank AG boosted projections for the current and next quarters. China’s broadest measure of new credit almost doubled on the month in August, the central bank said yesterday, after separate figures showed industrial production gained the most in 17 months.
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