Brazilian base metals producer Votorantim Metais (VM) is seeking to buy nickel concentrates on the open market to enhance its own nickel production, a company official said Wednesday.

“We are seeking to buy 4,000 tonnes per year of nickel sulfide concentrates for use at our Fortaleza de Minas nickel matte plant,” a senior commercial official with Votorantim Metais said. He did not want to be identified.

His statement follows an announcement earlier this week that VM will also expand by setting up a new 10,600 tonnes per year ferronickel plant in Brazil in 2009.

VM, currently Brazil’s and Latin America’s largest nickel producer, could see its annual output of 27,000 tonnes of nickel contained rise to some 31,000 tonnes with immediate effect if the plan to import is successful.

This would later rise to some 42,000 tonnes a year with start-up of the new ferronickel plant.

“The idea of the imports is to help us reach full capacity working at our nickel matte plant in Minas Gerais state, where mine reserves are depleting,” the official said.

VM is producing 6,000 tonnes per year of nickel matte, a type of nickel which requires further processing, at Fortaleza de Minas, whose annual production capacity is for 10,000 tonnes.

The plant’s entire output is sold under contract to a nickel smelter in Finland belonging to Russia’s Norilsk Nickel , he said.

VM has already bought some nickel concentrates from Americano do Brasil, a small producer in Brazil’s Goias state, but is broadening its search to imported material from Canada, Australia, Africa and Europe, he said.

“Nickel concentrates are at the moment difficult to find. But as the industry is relatively fragmented it is possible to source from mines that are not linked to smelters. We’re seeking to buy either on contract or on the spot market,” he said.

The company is also seeking to import nickel carbonate and cobalt concentrates for its main Sao Miguel Paulista smelter in Sao Paulo state.

“This is the cheapest and quickest way for us to increase production,” the official said, adding the company had recently managed to source two container loads in Congo.

Sao Miguel Paulista’s capacity has recently been expanded to around 23,000 tonnes per year, with its output aimed mainly for export.

The plan to build the ferronickel plant in Goias in 2009 is a first move by VM to churn out ferronickel, a raw material used in steelmaking. The 558 million reais ($257 million) plant will use laterite ore from Votorantim’s Niquelandia mine.

Its planned output will be 42,400 tonnes per year of ferronickel, which is equivalent to an annual 10,600 tonnes of nickel contained, and will be aimed at the European, Chinese and Japanese markets, the company said.

LME three-month nickel metal prices reached record highs of $33,200 a tonne on Wednesday.