CORRECTED-Canadian miner Sherritt posts wider loss as nickel prices drop

(Corrects to remove coal production in fifth paragraph.
Sherritt sold coal business in 2014)
July 28 (Reuters) - Canadian miner Sherritt International
Corp S.TO reported a bigger loss for the second quarter, hurt
by lower nickel prices.
The Toronto-based company said on Tuesday its adjusted net
loss from continuing operations widened to C$75.2 million ($58.2
million), or 25 Canadian cents per share, in the three months
ended June 30 from C$56.2 million, or 19 Canadian cents per
share, a year earlier. ID:nCCNbDTJfD
Sherritt operates nickel mines in Madagascar and Cuba.
Average realized prices for nickel fell about 19 percent to
$7.13 per pound in the quarter, the company said.
Sherritt, which also produces oil and gas, said its combined
revenue fell about 12 percent to C$268.4 million.
Sherritt said it expected total production of 78,000-82,000
tonnes of nickel in 2015, down from a previous estimate of
80,000-86,000. The company cut the estimate for the Ambatovy
mine in Madagascar to 45,000-48,000 tonnes from 47,000-52,000.
Sherritt has a 40 percent stake in the Ambatovy mine and a
50 percent stake in the Moa nickel-cobalt operation in Cuba.
Sherritt and other nickel miners have been grappling with a
plunge in the price of nickel, which is mainly used to make
stainless steel, due to a supply glut and softer demand from
China, the largest consumer of the metal. ID:nCCNbDTJfD
Benchmark nickel prices CMNI3 fell 3.34 percent in the
April-June quarter.
Sherritt, which also produces fertilizer, said earlier on
Tuesday that David Bacon will become chief financial officer in
November. Bacon, who will join the company on Sept. 9, replaces
Dean Chambers.
Up to Tuesday's close, Sherritt's stock had fallen about 55
percent this year.
($1 = 1.2925 Canadian dollars)