Nornickel in Advanced Talks to Build New Copper Smelter Plant

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): According to reports, Norilsk Nickel, the biggest miner in Russia, is in advanced negotiations with a Chinese company to construct a sizable copper smelter facility on the south coast of China.

The goal of constructing the facility in China is to bring the last stage of processing closer to the biggest copper market in the world. Sources claim that the idea is still in the early stages and has not yet been finalized. The Guangxi region's port city of Fangchenggang is where the proposed factory will be situated. Up to 500,000 tons of refined copper can be produced annually by processing concentrate that is delivered from Russia.

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To lessen the effects of the western nations', particularly the US and UK, tightening restrictions on Russian commodities, the corporation has been looking into a number of joint venture project opportunities in China. Nornickel has already spoken with a number of Chinese businesses about treating the Russian copper concentrates using their current smelters.

Nevertheless, the domestic copper industry has not embraced the concept. There has been an excess of refining capacity in the nation. It should be mentioned that the 600,000 ton smelting facility in Fangchenggang is operated by the Chinese state-owned Jinchuan Group.