Falconbridge Idling Smelter

Canada's Falconbridge Ltd., the world's third-largest nickel producer, has set summer shutdowns at its major smelter in Sudbury, Ontario, and at its Nikkelverk refinery in Kristiansand, Norway.

Falconbridge said the Sudbury smelter will be shut from June 18 to Aug. 8 for maintenance and vacations. Nikkelverk will take a vacation shutdown from July 15 to Aug. 5.

"With the excess smelting capacity we now have in Sudbury, we've scheduled these summer shutdowns in order to reduce our operating costs and run the plants at full capacity for the rest of the year," said Joe Laezza, senior vice president for nickel.

"The shutdowns have already been factored into our production forecasts and won't have any impact on our annual production and sales estimates."

For the first quarter of this year, Falconbridge's refined nickel production rose to 20,200 metric tons from 19,900 metric tons a year earlier. Mined copper production rose to 81,300 metric tons from 58,400 metric tons.

Falconbridge sees demand growing for nickel as stainless steel production increases. Nickel is a key component of stainless steel.