Russia's Norilsk Nickel says Q2 nickel output down 5 per cent on-quarter

MOSCOW: Russia's Norilsk Nickel, one of the world's largest nickel and palladium producers, said on Friday its second-quarter nickel output was around 64,000 tonnes and its palladium production was 726,000 troy ounces.

Its second-quarter nickel production was 5 per cent lower than in the first quarter, while palladium was up 15 percent quarter-on-quarter, it said.

Norilsk also said it saw 2015 nickel output at 220,000-226,000 tonnes from Russian raw materials and palladium at 2.58-2.61 million ounces.

It also gave full-year output forecasts of 360,000-368,000 tonnes for copper and 590,000-615,000 ounces for platinum from its own raw materials.

Copper output reached 92,600 tonnes in the April-June period and platinum was at 175,000 ounces, it added.

Norilsk Nickel produced some 60,900 tonnes of nickel in the second quarter of 2014, when palladium output stood at 729,000 ounces, copper at 93,700 tonnes and platinum at 177,000 ounces.