Falconbridge (FL-T), the world’s third-largest producer of nickel, announced on Monday that its 85%-owned nickel mining subsidiary in the Dominican Republic, Falcondo, will shut down its ferronickel operation for three months.
“The continuing weakness in the nickel market and high oil prices led to this decision," says Enrique Lithgow, Falcondo’s president and general manager, in a prepared statement. "We will continue to monitor the market conditions as we move forward.”
The company plans to conduct maintenance work during the shutdown, which is slated to begin Oct. 28.
Falcondo estimates that the shutdown will reduce deliveries to the market by 8,000 tonnes nickel in ferronickel.
During the recent second quarter, Falcondo operated below capacity due to unscheduled maintenance at the power plant.
Falconbridge’s quarterly share of Falcondo’s earnings was $2 million in the quarter, compared with income of $19.1 million during the second quarter of 2000. Falcondo was expected to churn out 26,000 tonnes ferronickel in 2001.
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