Third quarter 2019 sales

Q3 2019 sales of €895m, down 6% on Q3 2018, mainly due to an unfavourable price environment in Manganese activity and the impact of bringing quality processes into conformity at Aubert & Duval
New quarterly production records for manganese ore and nickel ore
Mixed price environment in Q3: manganese ore prices down -17% and LME nickel prices up +18%, and before the positive impact of an appreciating US dollar versus the euro
Highly favourable momentum in Nickel activities:
- Decisive breakthrough in SLN’s rescue plan: compared to the 1^st semester, cash cost down to USD 5.76/lb in Q3 2019, particularly due to the record level of ore export volumes
- Sandouville’s recovery confirmed: target to achieve break-even EBITDA after Q4 maintenance shutdown
- Acceleration of Weda Bay Nickel: construction ahead of schedule with a start-up planned as early as H1 2020, for highly competitive NPI production¹
2019 targets confirmed: production of 4.5 Mt of manganese ore, 720 kt of mineral sands and exports of 1.5 Mt of nickel ore
Factoring in expected productivity gains in the 2^nd half of the year, and with the assumption of market conditions of September 2019², more mixed than at mid-year, forecast EBITDA for H2 should be significantly above that of H1, nonetheless leading to full year EBITDA below those of 2018. However, the market and price environment has been particularly volatile in the last weeks.

Latest news