Manila, Philippines/November 13, 2020. Global Ferronickel Holdings, Inc. (FNI), the country’s second-largest nickel ore producer, today announced its financial and operating results for the nine months ended September 30, 2020. The Group recorded Q3 net income of P1.56 billion, which is 93% higher than the P805 million it posted during the same period last year. Mining operations generated total export revenues of P5.6 billion in the nine months ended September 30, 2020, which represent a 16% increase compared to the P4.8 billion generated during the same period last year.
The sale of nickel ore for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was 4.379 million WMT, lower by 0.263 million WMT or 5.7%, compared to 4.642 million WMT of nickel ore in the nine months ended September 30, 2019. The Group shipped 80 vessels of nickel ore during the nine months ended September 30, 2020 as against 85 vessels of nickel ore during the same period last year. The decrease in the number of vessels loaded, and consequently in the volume of nickel ore shipped, was a result of the temporary suspension of operations in April to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
“We are buoyed by the overall performance of our team. Despite the temporary halt in operations at the start of our mining season, we have been able to recover promptly and achieve remarkable results,” said FNI President Dante R. Bravo.
The resulting product mix was 59% low-grade ore and 41% medium-grade ore in 2020 versus the previous period’s mix of 42% low-grade ore and 58% medium-grade ore. The average revenue per vessel this year is P69.4 million, higher by 23.3% compared to These shipments were sold solely to Chinese customers consisting of 2.588 million WMT low-grade nickel ore and 1.791 million WMT medium-grade nickel ore compared to 1.953 million WMT low-grade nickel ore and 2.689 WMT medium-grade nickel ore of the same period in 2019.
Higher nickel prices kept the Group’s output afloat against the strengthening peso as the average realized nickel ore prices for the period ended September 30, 2020 were higher than 2019. Low-grade ore was US$22.01/WMT in 2020, 38.9% higher than 2019 price of US$15.85/WMT. Medium-grade ore was US$30.69/WMT, 34.6% higher than 2019 price of US$22.80/WMT. The overall average realized nickel ore price for the period ended September 30, 2020 was US$25.56/WMT compared to US$19.88/WMT for the period ended September 30, 2019, higher by US$5.68/WMT or 28.6%. The average realized peso to dollar exchange rate for the Group’s export revenues was P49.63 compared to P51.88 of the same period last year, lower by P2.25 or 4.3%.