Canada Nickel has signed an agreement to supply Swiss Steel Group with one million tonnes of semi-finished steel products a year starting in 2030. The companies signed an agreement on Oct. 23 outlining the framework for the deal, “combining Canadian resources and energy advantages with Swiss Steel Group’s specialty steel manufacturing expertise and established European customer networks.” “The intended partnership would provide Swiss Steel Group with access to low-carbon billet and blooms to be further processed for its specialty steel production,” said an Oct. 26 news release announcing the agreement. An initial supply concept has been developed and technically validated for the American, Canadian, German, Swiss and French facilities.” Low-carbon steel “This intended partnership supports an important element of our strategy: focusing our own industrial footprint while securing flexible access to competitive, low-carbon pre-material,” Frank Koch, CEO of Swiss Steel Group, said in the release. “It would strengthen our ability to serve our customers with high-quality specialty steels while increasing flexibility across our production network. Together with Canada Nickel Co., we will now work towards translating this concept into a commercially and technically viable long-term partnership.” “As Canada prepares to host the European Union later this week, this partnership demonstrates how we can translate our shared economic and industrial priorities into tangible commercial opportunities,” said Canada Nickel CEO Mark Selby. “Canada’s mineral resources and competitive, low-carbon energy advantages, combined with Swiss Steel’s manufacturing expertise and European market access, create an opportunity to build secure, low-carbon supply chains that benefit both economies.” The agreement, Selby said, strengthens “Canada’s industrial base while effectively exporting Canada’s natural gas and electricity advantages to support Europe’s competitiveness and long-term supply security.” “We look forward to working together, along with our existing partners, to unlock European critical minerals funding support for the project as we advance Crawford towards a construction decision in 2027.” Growing global demand for resources “The proposed partnership between Canada Nickel and Swiss Steel highlights the growing global demand for Ontario’s resources, expertise, and competitive advantages,” said George Pirie, Minister of Northern Economic Development and Growth. “Initiatives like this reinforce northern Ontario’s role in building secure supply chains, driving long-term economic growth, and strengthening Canada’s position in global markets.” Canada Nickel Company is developing its Crawford Nickel project and intends, through its wholly-owned subsidiary NetZero Metals, to transform the concentrates produced by the mine into a finished nickel product and the nickel-chromium magnetite concentrate into low-carbon, and potentially net-zero-carbon, semi-finished stainless and specialty steel products. Swiss Steel Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of specialty long steel products and employs approximately 7,000 people. Canada Nickel Company Inc. is advancing the next generation of nickel-sulphide projects to deliver nickel required to feed the high-growth electric vehicle and stainless steel markets. It’s pursuing the development of processes to allow the production of net-zero carbon nickel, cobalt, and iron products. Canada Nickel provides investors with leverage to nickel in low political risk jurisdictions. Canada Nickel is currently anchored by its 100 per cent owned flagship Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project in the heart of the prolific Timmins-Cochrane mining camp.
