Russia's Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel), the world's largest palladium producer, said on Wednesday its output of palladium and nickel from Russian raw material would increase in 2019.
Nornickel, part-owned by Russian tycoon Vladimir Potanin and aluminium giant Rusal, said previously it would ramp up output by 2025 to tap an expected boom in demand from electric vehicle makers.
"In 2018, the output of all our key metals, especially copper, exceeded our production guidance owing to an increase in processed volumes of concentrate purchased from (Russian state conglomerate) Rostec and productivity improvements," Sergey Dyachenko, Nornickel COO said in a statement.
This year, Nornickel, which vies with Brazil's Vale to be the world's largest nickel producer, plans to produce from Russian feedstock 220 000 t to 225 000 t of nickel, 430 000 t to 450 000 t of copper, 2.77-million to 2.80-million troy ounces of palladium and 646 000 oz to 670 000 oz of platinum.
In 2018, consolidated nickel production was 218 770 t, up 1% year-on-year, and consolidated copper output was 473 654 t, up 18%. Its palladium and platinum production was 2.73-million ounces, down 2%, and 653 000 oz, down 3%, respectively.