Sumitomo sees Ambatovy at 50% utilisation rate in Jan to March

8th February 2018 By: Reuters

TOKYO – Sumitomo said on Thursday it expects its Ambatovy nickel/cobalt project in Madagascar to run at about a 50% utilisation rate in the January-March quarter, rising to 80% from April.

The trading house said last week that the project had resumed operations from end-January after halting operations earlier in the month due to cyclone damage.

For the year to March 31, Ambatovy is expected to produce 33 400 t of nickel, down from 40 500 t/y earlier, Sumitomo Corp general manager Hiroyuki Sugai told a news conference.

Sumitomo owns a 47.7% stake in Ambatovy, while Canada's Sherritt International and South Korea's Korea Resources also hold stakes in the project.