Nornickel’s multi-billion dollar project to build a copper plant in China, which the company’s CEO Vladimir Potanin announced in 2024, is on the verge of collapse.
The Chinese partner decided to withdraw from the project, which planned to build a facility with a capacity of 500,000 tons of copper per year in the Fangchenggang port in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the situation.
According to them, Nornickel expected to sign an agreement with the Chinese side last year – before May, when President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing. However, the Chinese company left the project after a change in leadership.
Now Nornickel is looking for a new partner in China. According to Bloomberg sources, if this does not succeed, the company will have to ask the government to extend the operation of the copper plant in Norilsk, which was planned to be closed in 2027.
Potanin announced the transfer of copper production to China in April 2024. The Norilsk plant, built in 1935, was initially planned to be modernized to reduce harmful emissions. However, Nornickel considered the project too expensive. It would be easier to open a new plant in China – this would also allow to avoid significant losses caused by difficulties with financial settlements and equipment deliveries, Potanin explained (The Moscow Times).
