Depressed nickel leads to Inco loss

For the first quarter ended Mar. 31, Inco Ltd realized a loss of $5 million or 8 cents per share. This follows the last quarter of 1986 where the company lost $6.5 million or 10 cents per share.

Although Inco is the lowest cost nickel producer in the world, the company has no control over supply, demand and ultimately nickel prices, which are at 1974 levels. At the company’s annual meeting Chairman Charles F. Baird told shareholders that “we believe that 1987 nickel demand will be relatively strong and, assuming that further production capacity reductions occur, we should see some price improvements from the depressed levels of 1986.”