On Friday, Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM), the world's biggest nickel and palladium producer, reported that the company had raised its nickel output forecast for this year to 299,000-309,000 tonnes from a previous outlook of 300,000 tonnes.

The press release is quoted as saying:

Nickel output was 282,894 tonnes in 2009, close to the forecast of 285,000 tonnes and down from a restated output of 300,600 tonnes in 2008. The figures did not include output of Norilsk's U.S. unit Stillwater Mining Co. (SWC.N).

Click here to access the entire press release ^[1]