Sumitomo Corp has filed a debt restructuring plan to a UK court for its Ambatovy nickel and cobalt project, in Madagascar.
The plan would allow it to address plant equipment malfunctions and ensure other improvements, Sumitomo said in a statement on Thursday. The Japanese trading house posted an 89-billion yen ($617-million) impairment on the asset earlier this year. It owns 54% of the project.
A glut of low-cost nickel from Indonesia has seen prices of the metal — which is used in electric-vehicle batteries — halve since late 2022, causing many producers to throttle back output.
The world’s biggest miner, BHP Group, said in July it will shut its loss-making Nickel West business in Australia until at least early 2027. Anglo American is the process of looking to either sell or close its nickel unit, while Glencore has moved to halt mining operations on New Caledonia. 