Norilsk Nickel boosts Arctic independence
Mining and metallurgy giant Norilsk Nickel will soon be able to handle practically all its shipping and goods loading operations in the Arctic without outside assistance.
Norilsk Nickel has over the last years developed its own fleet of vessels capable of handling the lion’s share of the major shipping operations from Norilsk and Dudinka to Murmansk and abroad. As BarentsObserver recently reported, the company – the world’s biggest nickel producer – has also launched direct shipping routes to the European ports of Rotterdam and Hamburg with nickel and copper from its huge smelters on the Taimyr Peninsula.
In addition, the company is actively developing port facilities in Murmansk for ore exports from its plants in the Kola Peninsula. According to MBnews.ru, the company will be able to handle all loading operations of regional goods without outside assistance.
Until recently, Norilsk Nickel was fully dependent of the shipping services of Murmansk Shipping Company as well as port services to operate its huge business activities in the Russian North.
According to expert Oddgeir Danielsen from the Norwegian Barents Secretariat, the drive for logistical independence has been spurred by negative experiences from cooperation with other companies.
-They have decided to do it on their own, Mr. Danielsen says to BarentsObserver. –Without well functioning solutions they are not able to move on and develop the business, he adds.
-This is a good example of how an industrial giant on its own actively secures developments in the north instead of waiting for the state to take the initiative, Danielsen underlines.
