Norilsk Nickel confirmed today (19th October) that it suffered a 15 per cent year-on-year decline in platinum sales volumes in the first six months of 2009.

In its interim financial results, the world's largest nickel and palladium producer announced that group-wide sales of platinum fell from 447,000 oz to 379,000 oz.

Furthermore, palladium transactions slumped to 1.544 million ounces, representing a drop of 13 per cent from the figure of 1.778 million ounces recorded 12 months earlier.

The company itself suffered a platinum sales decline of eight per cent to 304,000 oz, while an 11 per cent decrease to 1.321 million ounces was incurred for palladium.

"In the first six months of 2009, revenue from metal sales declined by 54 per cent, mostly due to the global commodity market prices being significantly below prior year levels," the company noted in the results.

Norilsk's overall figures were badly impacted by the performance of subsidiary Stillwater Mining Company, where platinum and palladium sales dropped by 37 per cent and 23 per cent respectively.

The group also struggled to sell high volumes of gold during the half to 30th June 2009, suffering a 12 per cent year-on-year decline from 73,000 oz to 64,000 oz.

However, there was better news in relation to total copper and nickel sales, which both increased by eight per cent to 194,000 tonnes and 137,000 tonnes respectively.

Norilsk Nickel is owned by Interros, the investment vehicle of billionaire Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin.

Sources:

MMC NORILSK NICKEL PRESENTS ITS INTERIM IFRS CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AS AT 30 JUNE 2009 (19/10/09)

Norilsk H1 profit down 84 pct, beats forecast (19/10/09)

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