Boliden sees 300m SEK hit from covid-19, production snags in Q1

Boliden said on Tuesday it expects a negative impact from the pandemic and production disruptions of 300 million crowns ($34.5 million) in the first quarter.

The Swedish firm had previously forecast a negative effect of 200 million crowns, due to increased sick leave caused by covid-19 infections and production disruptions in its Aitik mine in Sweden and the Tara mine in Ireland.

Boliden said production capacity at Aitik and Tara was now fully restored.

“Impact on operating profit in Business Area Mines is estimated to amount to SEK -300 million in Q1, compared with SEK -200 million that was previously communicated,” it said in a statement.

($1 = 8.7016 Swedish crowns)

(By Helena Soderpalm; Editing by Simon Johnson)