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Nornickel CEO claims global demand for company’s metals ‘stable’

17 july 2026

The demand for Norilsk Nickel metals in the global market is stable, but the situation with logistics and sales will remain difficult, said president of the company Vladimir Potanin during a meeting with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.

"On the one hand, the demand for our metals is stable, on the other hand, the refusal of many countries to consume our goods leads to the fact that the issue of logistics and sales ... is not easy," said the head of Nornickel.

According to him, the company is trying to solve this problem this not only through the search for new markets, but also with the help of new technologies. In particular, Nornickel is studying the properties of palladium in order to apply it in new fields. The company's metals sales in the domestic market are also growing.

According to Potanin, the company plans to reach record ore production volumes of more than 17 million tonnes in the Norilsk Industrial District in 2026. In addition, the company managed to move towards productivity growth this year, reversing the negative trend.

Potanin also reported on the company’s successes in the software import substitution. In recent years, the mining and metallurgical company has been able to almost completely replace Western software.

"We've almost completely replaced the software, and we're now independent of our former Western partners," Potanin said.

Nornickel currently employs 85,000 people, and the average salary is 217,000 rubles, the company's CEO noted.

Alex Shishlo, Editor in Chief of the European Bureau, Rough&Polished