Singapore 18/01/2016 - [Update includes name of administrator and response from Queensland government]
Australian nickel producer Queensland Nickel (QNI) has gone into voluntary administration, Australian media reported on Monday.
"It is my understanding that the administrators will be in contact with all stakeholders and the operations of QNI will continue on as usual," QNI’s managing director Clive Mensink was quoted in media reports as saying.
"From our perspective it is business as usual and employees of QNI will continue productivity at this difficult time,” he said.
The news comes after the company axed 237 workers at its Townsville nickel refinery in Queensland last Friday, blaming the redundancies on falling nickel prices and lack of support from the Australian Queensland government.
In December, the Queensland Palaszczuk government refused the company’s request in December to act as guarantor for a A$35 million ($24 million) loan on concerns that it would set a precedent for the government to rescue other ailing resource companies.
In a statement on Friday late afternoon Australia time, Coralee O’Rourke, minister assisting the premier on North Queensland said state government representatives have had a “positive meeting” with administrator FTI Consulting “where we have agreed to continue to share information and work together as appropriate.”
“The future at [Queensland Nickel] is now in the hands of the administrator now that the company has been placed into voluntary administration,” she said.
Following the redundancies at QNI, the Queensland government has said that it will accelerate its public works program to make jobs available in the north and throughout regional Queensland.
QNI is wholly-owned by mining magnate Clive Palmer who purchased the 35,000 tonnes per year refinery from BHP Billiton in 2009.
The three-month nickel prices on London Metal Exchange had tumbled by around 45 percent over the past year. It was last at $8,575 per tonne on Monday.
Officials at QNI were unavailable for further comments.