Reuters reported that Philippines' largest nickel producer Nickel Asia Corporation had signed a deal with a Mitsubishi Corporation unit to sell about 800,000 wet metric tonnes of saprolite and limonite ore to China in 2012.

Nickel Asia, partly owned by Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Limited, said that the agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation (Shanghai) Limited was a major step forward in improving its marketing strategy in China.

It said that "This would enable the company to tap SSL's strong network and access to market intelligence in China."

Nickel Asia has so far sealed deals to sell a total of 8.9 million WMT of saprolite and limonite ore to various customers this year, including an agreement to supply close to 2 million WMT to a unit of China's largest listed steelmaker the Baosteel Group.

Nickel Asia's total ore shipments last year jumped 25% to a record 10.4 million WMT valued at PHP 12.1 billion, thanks to robust demand by nickel pig iron producers in China.

Nickel Asia also said that it had reached an agreement with key Japanese buyers Pacific Metals Co Limited and Sumitomo Metal to improve pricing of its high and medium grade saprolite ore.

It said the pricing adjustment, which was made possible by strong competition from the China market, will help cushion an expected drop in nickel prices in 2012.

(Sourced from www.reuters.com)