Russia’s Nornickel (MOEX: GMKN), the world’s largest palladium producer and a major refined nickel producer, said on Monday a planned major furnace overhaul may cut output of its key metals in 2027-2028, while reaffirming its 2026 guidance.
Nornickel’s nickel production totalled 61,000 metric tons in the third quarter, up 41% quarter-on-quarter. Output for the first nine months of the year rose 4% to 146,131 tons.
Palladium output rose 25% quarter-on-quarter to 736,000 ounces in the third quarter, while nine-month output fell 4% year-on-year to 1.934 million ounces.
Third-quarter copper production, including from the Bystrinsky GOK complex, rose 4% to 127,000 tons, while output for the first nine months was broadly unchanged at 367,000 tons.
The company confirmed its 2026 production forecast of 193,000 to 203,000 tons of nickel, 2.415 million to 2.465 million ounces of palladium, and 336,000 to 356,000 tons of copper, excluding the Bystrinsky GOK.
“We expect copper and palladium output to be at the upper end of the annual forecast range,” the company said.
Nornickel said it will begin a nine-month overhaul next year of a key flash-smelting unit in the nickel production chain at its Nadezhda Plant. It expects the overhaul to affect output of its key metals in 2027 and possibly 2028.
(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova. Editing by Jan Harvey)
