Russia's metals giant Norilsk Nickel has started testing a new sea route, which will allow it to ship its products to China three times faster, Norilsk said.

It said in a statement that its ice-breaking vessels will ship cargoes from the Arctic port of Dudinka to Shanghai in 19-20 days instead of 60-65 days by the traditional route via Europe and the Suez Canal.

Norilsk has its own ice-breaking fleet of five vessels. It can only transport products from its polar division on the Taimyr peninsula by sea or by air as it is not connected to the mainland by railways.

Norilsk, the world's top producer of nickel and palladium, normally interrupts loading of nickel, copper and cobalt bound for export markets for a month and focuses on its refineries on the northwestern Kola peninsula at the end of May, when ice breaks on the Yenisei river, where Dudinka is located. (Reuters)