Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. said it realized a profit of P1.5 billion last year, down 19.5 percent from the prior year’s P1.86 billion.
Revenues grew 30.5 percent to P8.8 billion from P6.74 billion on higher volume of shipped medium grade ores in its Palawan operation, offsetting the lower volume in its Surigao mine amid weaker prices for low-grade ores given the expanded output from mines in Indonesia.
The miner sold 4.717 million wet metric tons (WMT) of ore, of which 3.297 million WMT were from Surigao and 1.420 million WMT from Palawan.
“As a result, the sales mix was 64 percent low-grade ore and 36 percent medium-grade ore compared to 76 percent low-grade and 24 percent medium-grade in 2022,” the company said.
“The average realized nickel ore price was $33.28/WMT, rising 5.1 percent on a favorable mix combined with stronger prices for medium-grade ores, which were 11.6 percent higher than last year,” it added.
Dante Bravo, Global Ferronickel president, said the company’s diversification into Palawan from Surigao helped improve cashflow and positions the company better for short- and long-term growth opportunities.
“Our revenues highlight our success in operating the Palawan mine reliably in its first full year of production,” he said.
The Palawan mine started operation in September 2022 and was folded into Global Ferronickel in December of the same year.