Ramiro Valdés checks production and investments of Nickel
- Written by Ania Fernández Torres
- Published in Holguin
- Hits: 1335
The Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba, visited on Thursday the municipality of Moa with the objective of checking compliance with the investment and production plans of the Nickel Business Group.
Accompanied by Ernesto Santiesteban Velázquez, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in Holguín and Julio Cesar Estupiñán Rodríguez, president of the Government, the leader met with executives and workers of the Ernesto Che Guevara Company, which at the end of 2019 only reached 80 percent of the production plan.
Among the main causes of non-compliance are the low availability of equipment such as bulldozer and fuel deficit, instability in the quality of the fed ore, poor technical condition of the furnaces, high losses of minerals in the cola liquor due to operating with less sedimentation stages and hydrosulfide deficit.
Among the subjective factors, which still affect the production plans of the “Che Guevara”, are the insufficient organization and planning of repairs and maintenance, work system losses and good practices in some processes and the incorporation of a high number of non-experienced workers due to labor fluctuation.
Valdés Menéndez stressed the need to make timely decisions to solve problems in time and seek practical solutions within the country to improve efficiency without using external resources.
The analysis highlighted that the effects of the US blockade on Cuba in everything related to this important industry has caused the loss of resource suppliers and customers.
However, a broad plan of actions is currently being implemented to improve productive results, among which are: securing new deposits, recovering ammonia by reducing losses, keeping track of repairs, managing parts and pieces on time and recovering 10 cameras of furnaces in operations that will allow reaching 90 percent availability, among other important tasks.
Investments also accounted for 80 percent due to fuel deficit, non-importation of resources, transfer of the construction force to other works and delays in planned projects.
On these issues the Commander of the Revolution said: "If things do not work out, we must change the way we do them until they work out. It is vital to look at each problem inside to look for the causes that generate it and resolve them."
Pedro Soto Alba’s plan for 2020
The Pedro Soto Alba plant managed to fulfill its plans, with the exception of the month of December due to an increase in oil consumption, but in the plan of the year they failed to comply with 170 tons, since they had 14 days of involvement in the leaching and sulphide plants and various breakdowns in the turbos.
The Pedro Soto Alba plant managed to fulfill its plans, with the exception of the month of December due to an increase in oil consumption, but in the plan of the year they failed to comply with 170 tons, since they had 14 days of involvement in the leaching and sulphide plants and various breakdowns in the turbos.
However, they predict compliance by 2020 as they carry out capacity improvement actions, seek to guarantee maintenance and boost the production of sulfuric acid to increase inventory and not have to purchase this product.
According to executives of the "Pedro Soto" in the economic indicators they expect to close with profits.
The investments were executed at 76 percent due to the withdrawal of single suppliers and this situation was not able to be filled, there were low financial flows in some months, delays in obtaining permits and material and workforce limitations of the construction company, among other causes.
It highlights, on this occasion, the approval of the contract for the purchase of an Environmental Monitoring Station and the agreement for reforestation, two aspects that guarantee the mitigation of the impact on the environment of the mining exploitation.
Valdés Menéndez stressed that it is important to create payment capacities, value with the main investors to see what can be done to obtain dividends that allow honoring the payment of debts incurred.
