Major Japanese nickel producer Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. is looking to increase nickel supplies from New Caledonia, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands to make up for a potential supply shortage after Indonesia implements a ban on exports of unprocessed nickel from 2014, as reported by Reuters.
The Indonesian Energy Ministry announced in February this year that the regulation will cover copper, gold, silver, nickel, tin, bauxite and zinc and would improve domestic metal production capacity, boost supplies of refined products to the domestic market and increase government revenue.
Japan's top two ferronickel producers, Sumitomo Metal Mining and Pacific Metals Co, are expected to take a major hit from the new rule, with Japan relying on Indonesia for more than 50 percent of its nickel supply.
President of Sumitomo Metal Mining, Nobu Kemori, also said that the firm's 63 percent-owned Taganito nickel project in the Philippines will launch production in July or August 2013, with output in 2014 foreseen to reach at least 27,000 mt, or 90 percent of capacity.