GLOBAL Ferronickel Holdings Inc. said nickel ore production fell 19% to 1.55 million tons in the first half of 2018 as the company shifted its focus to better quality minerals to get better prices on the global market.

FNI, the world's second-largest nickel producer, exported 1.91 million tons of nickel ore from January to June 2017. The company said in a statement on Thursday, "The reason for the decline in shipments is that in order to maximize profits, the company decided to shift its focus to preparing more high-quality nickel ore, especially in the second half of the year. In the case of ore shipments."

FNI President Dante R. Bravo said that this is the company's first "pushing high-quality nickel ore with a nickel content of 1.65% to bring better profit margins to the company at a relatively high price." Bravo said in the statement, "Despite the severe situation in the first half of this year, measures to improve operational efficiency and adapt to market changes have enabled us to achieve positive results."

FNI said its product portfolio shipped in the first half of this year was 43% low-grade nickel or 57% medium-grade nickel. The company exported 63% of low grade nickel ore and 37% of medium grade nickel ore in the same period in 2017. The mining company says its current product portfolio has averaged 51 million pennies per boat, down 4% from the same period last year.

FNI said, "Despite the decline in revenue, the company managed to maintain its gross margin at 45%, and another favorable factor affecting profits is the appreciation of the US dollar against the Philippine peso."