London 29/06/2016 - By Charlie Dickens
Norilsk Nickel has completed the closure of smelting and roasting operations at its Nickel Plant in the Russian city of Norilsk on environmental grounds, it said.
The closure of the company's oldest asset, a process that started on February 1 and lasted five months, followed the Russian nickel producer's failure to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions of around 380,000 tonnes per year.
The operations in Norilsk were contributing to 25 percent to sulphur dioxide emissions in the residential area, equivalent to an average of 75-80 days per year, in one of the world's most polluted cities.
"The closure of the Plant will eliminate this source of emissions into the town environment," the company said.
Norilsk's first-quarter nickel output was 64,000 tonnes, of which 52,000 tonnes were produced in Russia. The company did not reveal how much production will be lost from the closure of Nickel Plant.
Still, some of its operations have been relocated to its Nadezdha plant, part of the country's Polar Branch, which is "prepared to manage with processing the bulk of nickel-containing feed", it said.
Around 2,500 jobs are at risk due to the closure - the affected employees will be offered retraining or retirement, it added.
Norilsk did not respond to requests for comment.
LME-three-month nickel recently traded at $9,310 per tonne, down $20 on Tuesday's close. Prices have repeatedly see-sawed around $9,000 over the last few weeks but rose to its highest for close to two months in Tuesday's trading.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)