01
05/11
Vale to Lose 5% of Nickel Output After Furnace Shut
By Juan Pablo Spinetto
(Updates with nickel’s London settlement price in third paragraph, Vale closing share price in fifth paragraph.)
Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) — Vale SA, the world’s second-largest mining company by market value, said its total nickel output will be cut by about 5 percent this year as it repairs a damaged furnace in Canada. Futures for the metal jumped to its highest price in almost three years.
The company, which previously said it was aiming to become the world’s top nickel producer in 2011, said the No. 2 furnace at its Copper Cliff nickel plant will stay closed for at least 16 weeks, it said in a regulatory filing today. Spokeswoman Angie Robson said Feb. 7 that a faulty wall forced the closure at the site in Sudbury, about 200 miles north of Toronto.
Nickel for delivery in three months climbed $660, or 2.3 percent, to settle at $29,150 a metric ton at 7:06 p.m. on the London Metal Exchange, after earlier rising as much as 2.8 percent, the highest price since April 30, 2008.
Rio de Janeiro-based Vale said the stoppage, the unit’s second this year, will cut the company’s total annual refined nickel production by about 15,000 metric tons. A problem in January shut the same furnace for three weeks.
Vale fell 37 centavos, or 0.7 percent, to 50.24 reais in Sao Paulo trading at 3:08 p.m. New York time.
BHP Billiton Ltd., based in Melbourne, is the world’s largest mining company by market value.
–Editors: Robin Saponar, Dale Crofts
To contact the reporter on this story: Juan Pablo Spinetto in Rio de Janeiro at jspinetto@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net