MMC Norilsk Nickel set up Logistics Office in Europe

To take full advantage of its competitive strengths in the area of logistics, late in November MMC Norilsk Nickel opened Norilsk Nickel Logistics B.V., a logistics office in Rotterdam. In the framework of contract for equipment delivery from Europe to the Polar Division of the Company, the new office organized cargo processing and loading on board the Arctic container vessel Talnakh. The vessel arrived to the European port carrying MMC Norilsk Nickel export products, and going homeward she will carry the equipment to Dudinka.

MMC Norilsk Nickel organized its logistics office in Rotterdam for further development of its Transport and Logistics business unit and improvement of its efficiency. Redistribution of coastal voyages of its Arctic fleet consisting of five diesel-electric vessels allowed the Company to organize direct transportation of export goods from the Dudinka Sea Port to Europe in 2009. With nine voyages completed this year to date, these container vessels delivered to Rotterdam and Hamburg 137 thousand tons of export metals produced by MMC Norilsk Nickel, and on their way back to Norilsk Industrial Region they carried 2,500 tons of cargos to meet the Company’s needs. With the new office in Europe the Company intends to improve quality of services related to the processing of its current cargo streams and to ensure higher capacity utilization for the Company’s vessels going to Murmansk, Archangelsk and Dudinka.

In line with these strategic objectives the Company decided to establish and develop its own terminal in the Murmansk Port, where the Murmansk Transport Division of MMC Norilsk Nickel operates. More than 44 thousand tons of the Company’s cargos were processed at the terminal in 2009 through the effective use of existing facilities, without additional expenses.

In any ice conditions, Arctic container vessels of MMC Norilsk Nickel go to and from Dudinka without icebreaker support, thus demonstrating their superior technical capabilities and the ability to negotiate ice independently.
The results of 2009 navigation season indicate that the efficiency of MMC Norilsk Nickel’s Arctic fleet is very high, said Sergey Buzov, Deputy General Director – Head of Transport and Logistics Unit of the Company. In 2010, the number of direct voyages to Europe will be the same or greater than in 2009, and we will arrange delivery of cargos from Europe not only to Dudinka but to Murmansk as well, he said.

Based on Norilsk Nickel press-service