Norilsk Nickel's activities are important for Finnish Harjavalta - mayor

(RIA Novosti) - The work of the Norilsk Nickel plant in the Finnish city of Harjavalta is critically important for local authorities, as it follows from the commentary of Hannu Kuusela, the city’s mayor for RIA Novosti.
MMC Norilsk Nickel said on Thursday that it is seeking ways to supply raw materials to its plant in Finland after Finnish rail operator VR refused to carry Russian cargos from 2023. MMC is considering the possibility of working with other operators, as well as deliveries directly by sea, the company said. And on the back of rumors about the plant's possible problems, world nickel prices rose by more than 25% from November 10 to 17, the Kommersant newspaper reported.
“The city does not have the ability to influence any enterprise, the supply of materials for these firms or sanctions. The task of the city is to maintain the viability of the settlement. If it happens that Nornickel stops working, then 300 jobs will be lost and three times more jobs that are not directly related (with production - ed.) will be cut. And in the current realities, I would not like to think about it," Kuusela said.
Harjavalta is located in Western Finland, 29 kilometers from the city of Pori, the population at the end of 2021 is 6 785 people. Residents are employed in the copper and nickel industries. The city is home to the nickel plant of Norilsk Nickel, the copper smelter of the Swedish Boliden, and the first battery materials plant in the EU of the German BASF is being built there.
Nickel production in Harjavalta began in 1957 by the Finnish iron and steel giant Outokumpu, in 2000 the nickel division was sold to the American OM Group, which built and launched a nickel chemicals plant in 2002. Later, OMG decided to specialize in cobalt and in the spring of 2007 sold the Finnish division to the Norilsk Nickel group.
According to Nornickel Harjavalta's own data, the company produces 60,000 tons of nickel per year, the turnover is about 1 billion euros per year, and the plant concentrates about 5% of world nickel production.