JES/Sarlock thanks for the input. Sar you have that right, those guys must get all kinds of status reports whenever they come asking.

John I would see this shut as being no different than any market /production curtailment. Temporary in nature and not a cold shut either as these guys are doing maintenance or capital expenditures. Funny thing is look at how many are either cancelling all out or deferring/shelving projects. We do know it is done in many industries and as you said these guys are doing it for more than one reason. As you said BHP's earlier announcement comes to mind.

I read this today in that G&M article, I bet they got scared as oil started to climb out from those levels. Sulphur/supluric acid has gone through the roof as well. As an input that's also a biggy for laterites. Coal has tripled since last year yet it is being looked at as the alternative for oil ( buy coal stocks folks)

"It cost Xstrata $7.96 to produce a pound of nickel at oil-powered Falcondo during the first half of the year when crude prices averaged about $110 a barrel. Nickel closed at $8.80 a pound yesterday, rising 7.3 per cent on news of the shutdown of Falcondo, which produces 29,000 tonnes of nickel a year, or about 2 per cent of the world's supply.

Ultimately it's all about foresight and being pro-active in management. Hopefully the battle boils down to being able to weather the storms ( cycles)

I am still blown away when I heard that GM and Ford exec's were "caught off guard" by the markets switch to smaller more economical auto's when explaining their sales slumps/losses and resultant production cuts. Duh!!