Russian mining giant Nornickel on Tuesday said it was not changing its long-term view on the metals sector and that it would continue to carry out its plans, despite acknowledging logistical issues.
Nornickel’s biggest shareholder, Vladimir Potanin, on Saturday said the company had managed to secure alternative routes for its palladium deliveries.
Dubovitsky said Nornickel, the world’s largest producer of palladium and refined nickel, was considering diverting metals supplies to alternative markets, including Asia, but called this “plan B”.
“Our task at the moment is to maintain our key markets, our key customer base,” Dubovitsky said. “Our task in very turbulent conditions is to maintain our supply chains.”
Nornickel was also looking into possible supplies of equipment from elsewhere in Russia and Asia for its investment plans and that the schedule for realising some projects may be changed, he said.
In November, Nornickel raised its 2021-2030 investment estimate by $6 billion to $35 billion.
Another senior vice president, Sergei Stepanov, said Nornickel has supplies of spare parts for production processes to last three months.