MOSCOW — Norilsk Nickel, the world’s biggest producer of nickel and palladium, sees nickel prices recovering this year, it said on Monday after reporting a 64% drop in net profits due to write-offs.The Russian firm, part owned by CE Vladimir Potanin and aluminium giant Rusal, had to trim spending last year and focus on its lucrative Soviet-era operations in Russia’s far north to cope with weak prices for its metals."Last year was a challenging and volatile year in commodity markets with prices for the majority of metals in the Norilsk Nickel portfolio declining that had a clear impact on our top-line performance," Mr Potanin said.The management is cautiously positive on this year with improving commodity prices in the beginning of the year but is also concerned over a deteriorating emerging market risk appetite in the global investment community, he said.Norilsk has not been hit by the political tension over Ukraine so far, but all Russian companies would suffer should the situation...
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