TORONTO Our friends at CAMESE (Canadian Association of Mining Equipment and Services for Export) have summed up the financial results of Canada's mineral industry so far this year. In the May 21 issue of the CAMESE Bulletin, the association notes:
"It is always good for mining suppliers when their clients are profitable. Riding the crest of rising metal prices, companies in Canada's integrated mines group saw profit rocket ahead 1,448% to $1.13 billion from $73 million in the first three months of 2003. The Globe & Mail quoted Derek Pannell, Noranda's president and CEO, as saying, 'We are experiencing the best fundamentals the base metals industry has seen for more than a decade.' Demand for metals by China, the United States and Japan is given the main credit for metals price increases.
"Nickel averaged US$6.68/lb on the London Metal Exchange (LME) during the first quarter, a 76% increase compared with the March quarter of 2003, while the LME copper price rose by 65% to US$1.24. Inco's sales almost doubled compared to the first quarter last year, and net income rose to US$255 million, compared to US$33 million a year ago. Falconbridge reported consolidated earnings of US$184 million for the three months to March 31, a five-fold increase over last year. Teck Cominco's first quarter profit jumped to Cdn$96 million from a mere Cdn$5 million a year ago and Noranda emerged with a quarterly profit of US$153 million, compared with a loss of US$40 a year ago."
CAMESE's web site is available in both Spanish and English at www.camese.org.
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