PPC says it will continue supplying Greek nickel producer Larco until Jan. 11

Greece’s Public Power Corp (PPC) will continue to supply debt-laden Larco, Europe’s biggest nickel producer, with electricity until next month, extending a previous deadline which expired Monday.

Larco, which is 55 percent owned by the Greek state, owes about 280 million euros ($319 million) in unpaid electricity bills to state-controlled power utility PPC, also a minority shareholder in the company.

The Greek government has been working on a plan to avert a closure of Larco, asking the producer to cut its output to align itself with lower nickel prices and to reduce wage costs. [Reuters]