Brazilian miner Vale reported on Thursday an annual increase on both its production and sales of nickel during the fourth quarter of 2020, Kallanish reports.  

“Our annual production was supported by the improved performance of the Onça Puma unit, with a full operating year and Indonesian stable operations throughout the full-year,” Vale comments. “Covid-19 impacts are estimated to have trimmed annual production by 7,300 tonnes across all our Base Metals operations.”

Vale planned maintenance works for first-half 2020 had to be postponed into Q3 due to the pandemic, which caused production in that quarter to be abnormally low. The output returned to normal rates in Q4, the company explains.

A total of 55,900 t of nickel were produced in the October-December quarter. The volume is up 18.7% quarter-on-quarter but 1.4% lower year-on-year. The miner’s full-year output reached 214,700 t of nickel – an increase of 3.2% y-o-y.

Overall, Vale’s Canadian operations, including Sudbury, Voisey’s Bay and Thompson, produced almost 89,600 t in 2020, which is 8.0% down on-year. In 2020, production of finished nickel from its Indonesian unit reached 71,600 t (up 5% y-o-y), while the New Caledonia operation’s output totalled 31,000 t (up 32.5% y-o-y).

According to the data provided by the miner, Brazil’s Onça Puma ended 2020 improving its performance. The unit’s annual production increased 37.9% y-o-y to 16,000 t. Meanwhile, finished nickel production, excluding Vale New Caledonia, closed 2020 in line with the previous year at 183,700 t.

Nickel sales totalled 66,100 t in the quarter, representing a surge of 40.6% over 2019 sales and an increase of 13.6% from Q3. Full-year shipments totalled 210,900 t in 2020, a 2.5% increase compared to 2019.