DMCI Mining Corp., a unit of DMCI Holdings Inc., nearly doubled its net income in the first nine months of the year to P206 million from P106 million year-on-year, on shipments of higher-grade ore and increased nickel prices.
DMCI Holdings said in a disclosure to the stock exchange nine-month revenues jumped 40 percent to P978 million from P700 million on year despite just a one-percent increase in nickel shipments from January to September this year. The company had no nickel shipments in the third quarter.
DMCI Mining shipped 482,762 wet metric tons of nickel ore in the nine-month period from 476,155 WMT the year before.
The average nickel grade from January to September increased 14 percent from 1.52 percent to 1.73 percent year-on-year. The average selling price, meanwhile, rose 33 percent from $29 to $39.
Majority of the shipments, or 430,000 WMT, came from the old stockpile of Berong Nickel Corp. in Palawan, while the rest were from the inventory of Zambales Diversified Metals Corp.
ZDMC is still awaiting for the re-issuance of a port permit while poor weather conditions prevented BNC from making any shipment.
DMCI Mining recognized a P110-million loss due to the absence of revenue to cover operating expenses.
“We hope to ship more in the coming months using old and new inventory. The mining suspension order for BNC has been lifted, and the timing could not be better for our employees and host community in Palawan,” said DMCI Mining president Cesar Simbulan Jr.
“A lot of them have been in and out of work for nearly two years because of our mining suspension. We plan to rehire our people and subcontractors to normalize our operations,” he added.
ZDMC remains suspended, along with 11 other mining companies that appealed their closure or suspension order to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.