Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. (GFNI) said Tuesday it secured a new supply deal with Chinese firm Baosteel Resources International Co. Ltd.
Under the sale and purchase agreement, Baosteel will purchase up to 1.5 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore for 2024 at a price determined monthly based on the prevailing market value at the time of sale.
The ore will be supplied by GFNI’s subsidiaries Platinum Group Metals Corp., which operates a nickel mine in Surigao del Norte and Ipilan Nickel Corp., which operates a mine in Palawan.
About two-thirds of the nickel ore to be sold are expected to be low-grade with 0.90 percent nickel and 48 percent iron, and between 1.30 percent and 1.40 percent nickel with 15 percent to 25 percent iron.
The remaining one-third will be medium grade with 1.40 percent and above nickel and 12 percent to 23 percent iron.
“We are proud to work with Baosteel and continue our long-term relationship. This agreement and our long history together demonstrate our customer’s confidence in our business and provide further recognition of our efforts in maintaining a reliable supply chain to meet the demands for Baosteel products throughout the Asia-Pacific region and internationally,” said GFNI president Dante Bravo in a statement to the stock exchange.
“With almost 10 years relationship, we believe our collaboration aligns with FNI’s mission of providing metals and minerals that are essential for greener, more sustainable products required in everyday life,” he said.
GFNI ended 2023 with 4.763 million WMT shipped volume, including 3.297 million WMT from PGMC and 1.466 million WMT from Ipilan. A total of 0.379 million WMT were sold to Baosteel.
Baosteel is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Baowu Steel Group, which is engaged in mineral resource investment, trading and logistics services. China Baowu Steel Group ranked in 2023 as the largest company in the materials sector and 44th largest company worldwide by total revenues on the Fortune Global 500.