Diversified major Glencore on Wednesday announced that it would stop providing funding for the operations of Koniambo Nickel (KNS), stating that the New Caledonia business continued to struggle financially and was incurring significant losses.
Glencore would continue to provide funding for the operations until February 29, 2024. The company stated that it would work with KNS and stakeholders to explore solutions for KNS’ ongoing losses, including looking for alternative sources of funding.
Citing a recent report from the French Inspector General of Finance into the nickel industry in New Caledonia, Glencore stated that the industry was experiencing significant challenges and that far-reaching changes were needed to address these challenges and make production of nickel on the island viable.
Glencore’s funding of KNS has amounted to $3.9-billion since the acquisition of Xstrata and $9-billion since project inception.