n extra month to the company he loves so much. Didier is not really leaving our Group, as he will be appointed to the NMC Board of Directors as of December 1.

We would like to warmly and humbly thank Didier VENTURA for his commitment and invaluable contribution, particularly in managing the critical period that NMC is currently experiencing.

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Mr. Ali NEMOUCHI to replace him, effective December 1st.

From now until November 30, Didier VENTURA will introduce Ali NEMOUCHI to the NMC teams, and help him to familiarize himself with the field and operations.

A trained mining engineer and holder of an EMBA in strategy and leadership from HEC Paris, Ali NEMOUCHI brings 30 years’ solid experience in corporate strategy and management, as well as in-depth knowledge of the mining sector.

A Multi-talented, he has also specialized in transport law and energy technologies, particularly in recent years. Until recently, as head of his own consulting firm, he helped New Caledonian companies transform their business models, particularly in the energy sector and hydrogen projects.

We reiterate our sincere thanks to Didier VENTURA and welcome Ali NEMOUCHI, and count on each and every one of you within the Group to welcome Ali and support him in his new responsibilities.

The post Ali NEMOUCHI is NMC’s new President first appeared on SMSP.

SNNC, Société du Nickel de Nouvelle-Calédonie et Corée, is a modern, high-performant metallurgical plant, committed to preserve the environment at every step of its process. Thanks to its proven manufacturing technology, the plant has a nominal production capacity of 54,000 tonnes of nickel metal per year, that is mostly sold to POSCO.

The metallurgical plant is the outcome of a partnership between SMSP (51% shareholder), the Caledonian mining company, and POSCO a Korean company (49% shareholder) and one of the world leaders in stainless steels. Two joint-ventures were established in 2006: Nickel Mining Company SAS, which extracts and produces nickel ore from mines in New Caledonia, and the SNNC Plant, which processes this ore into ferronickels in its plant in Gwangyang (South Korea).

A constrained and tough economic landscape

Since 2020, the New Caledonian plant in Korea has been facing economic difficulties, due first to the COVID pandemic health crisis, then, secondly, to the climate events.

La Nina phenomenon has had a major impact on mining production, leading to a gradual reduction in annual ore supply of around 30% between 2020 and 2022. In addition, at the end of 2022, Hinnamnor Typhoon caused unprecedented damage to the blast furnaces in Pohang, SNNC’s main buyer of ferronickel.

The massive supply of NPI (Nickel Pig Iron, a low-nickel ferronickel) to the world market has had a serious downward impact on ferronickel selling prices. And Indonesia’s continuous protectionist policy towards its mining resources is driving prices down, with significant consequences for all nickel suppliers.

Finally, since the war in Ukraine, energy costs (coal and diesel) have soared, leading to a significant increase in operating costs.

The switch to matte production at SNNC

All the above factors have an impact on SNNC’s financial performance, so it was with anticipation and to remain competitive that SNNC began its entry into the electric vehicle battery market in 2021.  On 9 July 2021, SMSP signed an agreement with POSCO to diversify production at the Gwangyang plant into matte.

Producing matte, an intermediate product used in the production of electric vehicle batteries.

The market for electric cars is growing at an exponential rate, and currently accounts for 2.5% of global sales, giving a total of 4.4 million vehicles sold worldwide (2021 figures). Forecasts predict 26 million vehicles by 2030.

Worldwide fleet of electric cars

With 4.4 million sales in 2022 (up 60% in one year), China leads the world market. Europe is in second place, with a 21% share of the EV sales market, followed by the United States, which is accelerating its sales by 55% since 2021 (the 700% electric car is up 70%).

By 2024, SNNC will be producing 26,000 tonnes of ferronickel and 21,000 tonnes of matte. Thus with the same volume of ore supply, SNNC will produce two types of product – ferronickel and matte.

Diversification is therefore not only essential to strengthening the plant’s competitiveness, but by accessing the electric car market, the SMSP group, through its SNNC subsidiary, is positioning itself to reduce CO2 emissions, which is a major concern for our group.

In addition, this development model aims to position itself on markets that provide real added value for the plant, but also for the region. After 13 years of SNNC operation, the New Caledonian Plant in South Korea has proved its capabilities, producing 430,000 tonnes of nickel metal and generating a cumulative dividend of 11 billion XPF distributed and paid to SMSP.

The post Diversification into matte to remain competitive for SNNC first appeared on SMSP.

Offered by our subsidiary in Korea, this bus shelter is the first one of the 4 equipments that will be installed in the municipalities where our other affiliate, Nickel Mining Company (NMC), operates its mining centres.

The emergence of the SMSP/POSCO partnership

Five years after its repurchase in 1995, SMSP was one of the leading exporters of nickel ore in the world.

For the leaders of this period, it was however only one step in the development of this exhaustible local resource. They were aware of the the unsteadiness of the nickel market and the importance of optimizing the profitability of this green gold.

It is therefore necessary to extend the existing mining activity with a further industrial activity by including the processing of metal in the group’s development strategy, as this is the only operation generating any additional value out of the ore.

This lead to the creation of two joint companies, the mining company NMC and the metallurgical company SNNC, both 51% owned by SMSP and 49% by POSCO, a Korean group dedicated to steel production.

Thus the extractive assets become the essential economic prerequisite for the launching of industrial projects, generating further development.

An international industrial partnership for the sustainable development of New Caledonia

In 2005, André DANG, the SMSP’s President, and Paul NEAOUTYINE, the North Province’s President, travelled to South Korea to conclude a partnership with the world’s leading steel producer at such time, the Korean POSCO Company. Three years later, in October 2008, SNNC celebrated the opening of its first production line with a capacity of 30,000 tons of ferro-nickel. In March 2015, SNNC successfully expanded its second production line to 54,000 tons of ferro-nickel.

Diversification in 2022 driven by the electric vehicle battery market trend

In July 2021, SMSP and its Korean partner continue to optimize the added value of the Caledonian ore and sign an agreement to spearhead the diversification of SNNC’s operations by authorizing the latter to invest in the production of nickel mattes dedicated to the manufacture of electric car batteries. The SMSP Group is thus positioning itself on this high potential market as many States are regulating and prohibiting, in the mid-term, the use of petrol driven vehicles.

The SNNC president, Jun-Hyung KIM and his collaborators are in charge of the follow-up and supervision of the construction works of this matte production unit, which started in June 2022. The construction of this facility will be completed in the second half of 2023 and the ramp-up will take place in the first half of 2024. SNNC’s ambition is to deliver 26,000 tons of ferronickel and 21,000 tons of matte annually to POSCO.

Key figures and cumulative performance for both mining and metallurgy after 10 years of operation

Thus, after 10 years of operation, from 2009 to 2018, the SMSP/POSCO partnership has generated:

• for the NMC, ore producer, a cumulative turnover of 114.6 billion XPF
• for the SNNC, producer of ferronickel, a accumulated turnover of XPF 411 billion.

SNNC generated dividends of nearly 22 billion XPF over this period, 51% of which were allocated to SMSP.

First economic spin-offs in New Caledonia

Between 2015 and 2016, in the midst of the mining crisis, NMC was able to renew and modernize its mining infrastructure thanks to a financial investment of 17 billion XPF which was guaranteed under the SNNC agreement.

NMC – SNNC: Sharing skills and mutual support

Within the framework of the joint venture agreements between SMSP and POSCO, it is foreseen that each of them appoints its representatives within the two JVs. The companies are therefore steered by management boards equally composed of 6 members appointed by each shareholder.

In 2020, on the occasion of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the tragic death of some SMSP managers (including the emblematic Raphael PIDJOT) in a helicopter accident, SNNC decided to get involved in the actions of the SMSP group and its subsidiaries in New Caledonia.

Thus, SNNC has made a major financial contribution to the Widjè Committee, in charge of the organization of the 28 November commemoration.

A symbolic gesture for the organization of this important day in the history of the SMSP group.

Since then, the exchanges continue and SNNC shows its willingness to share with New Caledonia additional economic benefits, which are already largely effective through the return of dividends.

Thus, SNNC, and particularly its Citizenship Department, contributes financially and socially to all the SMSP group’s events: the International Women’s Rights Day on March 8, the annual SMSP Trails, the “Orange the World” campaigns against violence against women, the Ouaco Heritage Day as well as the commemoration day on November 28.

In addition to these events, SNNC is a direct contributor through the SMSP to local events such as the VKPéenne, the Ecomobility week, the Women’s Day at the Customary Senate organized in 2022, on the occasion of which goodies were handed out.

Bus shelters: a further step

In 2022, the President of SNNC, Jun-Hyung KIM and his Vice-President Robert WAMINYA, announced their wish to donate 4 bus shelters financed by SNNC and allocated to 4 cities located in the Northern Province.

The choice of location was logically made in the townships where NMC is operating its mining activity and in Koné, the capital of the North Province, our reference shareholder.

These robust infrastructures (manufactured out of Caledonian nickel) were assembled in October 2022.

On October 6th, all the partners, SNNC, NMC and SMSP participated in the inauguration of the very first SNNC bus shelter installed in New Caledonia in the town hall of Poya.

The installations will continue in the other townships over the next few weeks to the enjoyment of the travelers and residents of these towns.

SMSP, NMC and SNNC: a partnership for the upgrading of New Caledonian ore with a number of economic impacts.

The post SNNC: the SMSP Group’s Caledonian Offshore Plant first appeared on SMSP.

SMSP group continues to develop its strategy to optimize the valorization of its natural resource. On July 9, 2021, SMSP signed a partnership agreement with POSCO for the diversification of the production of the Gwangyang Plant. Thus SNNC, SMSP’s Subsidiary Plant in South Korea, will continue to receive the same quantity of ore but will produce two types of products: ferronickel and matte. Matte is an intermediate product used in the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries. Under the agreement, SNNC will produce 26,000 tons of ferronickel and 21,000 tons of matte by 2024.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Tuesday 22 June this week to mark the launching of works at SNNC Caledonian Plant in South Korea.

The post First stone laying _ Matte Project in Gwangyang first appeared on SMSP.

At dawn on 28 November 2020, nearly 600 people congregated to the same point, e.i. Kouergoa Tribe and more precisely the road leading to the crash site to pay tribute in front of the hut erected, whose posts bear the victims’ names in the place called Chefao. The SMSP group staff, sometimes with their families, sometimes with their colleagues, but also the families of the victims as well as anonymous people have travelled from all over the island and even from the Loyalty Islands to mark the 20th anniversary of the commemoration of the missing persons of the SMSP Helicopter’s crash.

Indeed, on Monday 28 November 2000, 7 people, including the entire SMSP Management Staff were killed in a helicopter accident at the place called Chefao. The victims are: Raphaël PIDJOT CEO, Jean-Pierre LAPOUS Managing Director, Jean-Pierre GASTALDI Technical Director, Régis VIVIER Financial Director, Jean-Marc DALMASSO SMSP pilot; Pierre THOLLOT and Robert GARDINER two consultants of the Canadian Falconbridge Group.

Several families of the victims were present, including members of PIDJOT, GASTALDI and VIVIER Families. In addition, the two NC1ère journalists sent on site were respectively PIDJOT Nephew and LAPOUS niece. Their presence at all honored the program put in place by the event’s organizers.

Hands in hands, the Kouergoa Tribal Association along with the Widjè Committee 28 November, which made up of all the SMSP Group subsidiaries’ staff of NMC, KNS, SNNC and Cotransmine, are working hard to undertake structural works in order to welcome in good conditions the families, SMSP staff members and the public in general.

A large meal to which the families of the victims were invited brought together all the participants.

In addition, the Kouergoa Tribe offered two large cakes to commemorate 20 years of commemoration dedicated to the families and participants of the event.

Romuald PIDJOT, the late Raphaël PIDJOT’s eldest son, expressed his appreciation for the organizational work carried out by the Widjè Committee 28 November in conjunction with the Kouergoa Tribe Association. “It is a very good organization in terms of logistics, transport with the shuttle system. I thank the tribe and the SMSP staff for this great job. What I found great is especially the presence of so many young people who, in my opinion, were not born at the time of the crash, but who are coming on pilgrimage today, like us. Somehow it is a mark of attachment to the visions of economic development embodied by our deceased.”

Edwige VIVIER, the late Régis VIVIER’s eldest daughter “Thank you very much for this day. We really had a good time and appreciated your gesture as well as all the support of the tribe and the Organizing Committee for this commemoration and the structural works, such as on the issue of water“.

Sarah MANZANARES, Coordinator of the Widjè Committee, expresses her satisfaction with the way this day unfolded: “With all humility and respect, I hereby wish to once again thank the association and the tribe for welcoming us all during the past 20 years; and to thank each of the Committee Members, the group employees and collaborators who volunteered to work towards the great success of this magnificent sharing day.

This day as always, is a great moment of emotion which gathers all together through this annual pilgrimage to pay tribute to our founding fathers. We are pursuing the works started, and it is indeed a common achievement of each woman, man, from all walks of life whose reflection is a magnificent rainbow that has made the commemoration a success.

We have already set up the date of our first meeting in 2021 in order to examine and talk about the future activities.

I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best and a happy holiday season.”

As for Karl THERBY, SMSP’s Managing Director: “First of all, I would like to thank, on behalf of SMSP, all the members of the families of the deceased, present with us during this day of commemoration and recollection. Thank you also to all the participants who came in large numbers to pay tribute to these men of courage and conviction who left too soon. Finally, I would like to congratulate and thank all the members of the Widjè 28 November Committee, those of the Kouergoa Tribe Association as well as those of all the staff of SMSP’s subsidiaries of the NMC group, KNS and Cotransmine as well as SNNC. All these employees who dedicated their time to make this day a huge success with the aim of honoring the memory of these men and pursuing their dream. All this is the strength of our Group.”

The post They departed 20 years ago first appeared on SMSP.

Seven people died, including the SMSP staff: Raphaël PIDJOT SMSP CEO, Jean-Pierre LAPOUS SMSP Managing Director, Jean-Pierre GASTALDI SMSP Technical Director, Régis VIVIER SMSP Financial Director, Jean-Marc DALMASSO SMSP Pilot; Pierre THOLLOT and Robert GARDINER of Falconbridge. A tragic loss as the project is still in its infancy.

20 years later, the crash is still remembered. Above all, the group’s employees do not forget, and are keen to perpetuate what is for them more than a duty: it is part of the energy and vision that drive them on a daily basis in their work.

So for the 20 years of the commemoration, the group and its subsidiaries have set up the WIDJÈ Committee, November 28 and with the Widjè Association of the Kouergoa tribe, are organizing this moment of contemplation with particular and intense attention.

We met Alphonse WENENINA, member of the WIDJÈ Committee, November 28 and Koniambo Nickel employee. He initiated a musical project in memory of those who have left and for the attentive ears of those who remain. They recorded on Saturday, October 24, 4 songs. The CD was released on Thursday, November 19.

Meeting with Alphonse WENENINA – Pilot of the initiative.
“Even if it’s all alone but I’m going.”

Alphonse entered the Vavouto site (Koniambo Nickel) in 2009 for a subcontractor and joined Koniambo Nickel in 2014. He learned the history of the company and of this tragic crash. He is touched, concerned and has participated in the commemorations every year.

This year, when he joined the WIDJÈ Committee, November 28, he offered members an idea, the production of a piece of music for the commemoration. Songwriter, music is part of Alphonse’s daily life. Without making any promises, he toured his musical entourage, other musicians, singers, composers and quickly found his team, and in particular Jeanne WAIMO, working at SMSP since 2019. The idea became a project!

The Project – What is it?

With some emotion, Alphonse explains the wish to perform a song. But these are ultimately 4 songs that emerge within the project, each have a special meaning.

The group and the organization

The initiative brings together around 20 artists, songwriters, but also support around the production of these pieces.

If the idea was born at the beginning of the year, it is put on the table during the first meeting of the WIDJÈ Committee, November 28 of the SMSP group. And the first lyrics are written down in August, while bringing together the other tracks and the artists.

Organization and time devoted to weekends, days off and free time. An investment that lives up to the vision that is being carried, that of those who have come before.

“28 novembre”

Written in 2013 at Kawipa by the NMC Kouaoua site, it was readily “donated” by the employees in order to contribute to the 2020 project. We find the solidarity of the group’s employees and the common feeling of beeing concerned.

“Widjè”

This is the name of the Association that annually organizes the commemoration within the Kouergoa tribe, but it is much more. “Widjè” in the Xârâcùù language means “Why”, and for Alphonse, this meaning had a particular resonance. Written with Ludovic LEVY, Alphonse explains: “When we started to write the song, this “why” challenged us. Why this crash, why these men, why this place? etc”. He also explains that the place called “Chefao” where the crash occurred means “the place from which the iron is pulled”. For him it is obvious, it is the place from which we draw strength. It is therefore both a place of contemplationbut also a place of rebirth, a place to recharge.

And this song is also a symbol of diversity, several styles have been mixed: the kaneka of the Islands, the kaneka of the North (the 4 stroke) and the new style of kaneka that the North has created (Djareb).

The meaning of the project: Work and live together

“We created this small collective of country artists, it was to follow this vision of Raphaël PIDJOT who showed us from the start that we could work together. Our big brothers, like Miguel Ate, often remind us: whatever our colors, we are children of the country, we have to work together and live together. And Raphaël’s team, the one that fell in Kouergoa, it was these values of working and living together that they carried: there was a Kanak, a Javanese, a white etc. Today, we are still looking for each other, there are examples in front of us but we do not see them. We do not take a step back. And this moment for the 20 years of the crash is precisely the moment to remember that vision.”

“Moi je suis”

Written by Numa HENESEWEN, this song is about our way of being to look at the horizon, often forgetting the essential, our roots. Through music, it is about reminding ourselves that we are here on earth, in our individuality, but we need the other to exist. The words at the end “I am you and you are me” is a call to walk together.

“Raphaël”

From LEXIS. The original song was written in 2000 in memory of Raphaël PIDJOT precisely. It was picked up and adapted by the group of Alphonse.

Group members and supporters

• Jacob POAMENO aka Ako
• Ingrid WAMYTAN (AUCHER)
• Kaïnda WHAAP aka Jeff
• Jeanne WAIMO (HUE)
• Geoffrey UNË
• Bryan WAMALO (we had the songs, the melodies) – Create the support, put on audio and send them. Musician. Where Alphonse is a songwriter – He sent the first draft of the technical part.
• Jessica OUTHEMECK
• Kameango UNË
• Düi
• The other members and supporters of the group carry this vision: Williams WELEPANE, Ismaël DOUNEZECK, Albert KAKUE, Johan UJICAS, Bryan WAMALO, Miguel WAMALO and many more …

The daily work of the employees of all the subsidiaries is of course punctuated by the achievement of objectives and the completion of the required work. But it seems important on the occasion of this commemoration to remember that our efforts come to continue a work done before, and as Alphonse indicates, in a place “for which people have fallen”.

Returning to Kouergoa every year is a duty of remembrance but it is also a moment of sharing and allowing everyone to find their answer to the “why” that everyone may ask.

Alphonse insists: “We all have our place, as children of the country; and over there, it’s a time for everyone to find their place”.

We invite all employees of SMSP, NMC, SNNC, Cotransmine and Koniambo Nickel to contact their entreprise councils to find out how to register for the commemoration event. Shuttles will be set up to allow you to reach the place.

The Widjè Association and the Kouergoa tribe, which have an indescribable and family bond with the SMSP group and its subsidiaries, will welcome you on November 28th to the tribe before joining the place called Chefao.

The post Music to commemorate and recall the vision first appeared on SMSP.

For the tenth consecutive year, SNNC’s balance sheet shows a particularly exceptional and positive results in view of the difficulties in the supply of ore encountered by the plant, being directly linked to the bad weather that affected NMC mines in New Caledonia in the beginning of the year.

The 2018 financial results therefore state:

– A production of 45,000 tons of ferronickel (below budget),
– A Turnover of 60.3 billion XPF,
– An EBITDA of 6.5 billion XPF,
– A margin of 11%.

At the end of the last ten financial years (2009/2018), SMSP subsidiary’s cumulative financial records are as follows:

– A production of 306,379 tons of ferronickel,
– A turnover of 411 billion XPF,
– EBITDA of 65.36 billion XPF,
– A margin of 16%.

During the last ten years, despite long period of market crisis with the processing a nickel ore content of less than 2%, SMSP received 10 billion XPF in dividends, which did not prevent SNNC from writing off more than 50% of its plant investment costs.

By taking stock of the last ten years performance, SMSP acknowledges that the offshore model is undeniably an industrial, economic, social and environmental success. A success she is extremely proud of.

The post SNNC 2018 financial results first appeared on SMSP.