Nornickel to buy into Copper Ore from Rostec

MOSCOW: MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC agreed to buy copper-containing ore from Russia’s Rostec State Corp for 67.5bil rubles (US$1.1bil) to counter a production decline.

Rostec is selling concentrate that it received from state reserves earlier this year, chief executive officer Sergey Chemezov told reporters in Moscow. He declined to disclose the amount or details other than the price. Nornickel had mined the ore during the Soviet era and is now keeping it in custody at its Polar Division.

The company will pay for the ore in instilments over four years, according to Nornickel’s press service.

With the purchase, Nornickel will be able to increase output at its Polar Division’s Copper Plant, which is currently working at less than full capacity, a spokeswoman said by phone, declining to comment on other details before the contract is signed.

Nornickel produced 264,000 tonnes of copper during the first nine months of 2016, a decline of 4% from a year earlier. The price of the metal has jumped 18% since Oct 21, climbing on speculation about a possible production shortage and gained further on president-elect Donald Trump’s plan to boost infrastructure construction in the United States. — Bloomberg