Inco boosts nickel output<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed nickel producer PT International
\nNickel Indonesia (Inco) has revised its production target for
\n1998 to 100 million pounds of nickel in matte.<\/p>\n
The amount is eight million pounds more than its initial
\ntarget, since the company resumed the operation of its hydropower
\nplant.<\/p>\n
Company president Scott Hand said in a statement sent to The
\nJakarta Post yesterday that Inco, based in Soroako, South
\nSulawesi, had resumed the operation of its 165-megawatt (MW)
\nhydropower plant following an increase in the water level of Lake
\nTowuti, the source of water for the power plant.<\/p>\n
Inco gets 85 percent of its power from the hydropower plant.<\/p>\n
The power plant has not been fully operational since mid-
\nNovember following a long drought caused by the El Nio weather
\nphenomenon. The drought decreased the water level of the lake.<\/p>\n
\"The company is now on target to meet its expanded 1998
\nproduction of 100 million pounds of nickel in matte. Production
\nfor 1997 is expected to be about 70 million pounds,\" Hand said.<\/p>\n
Inco is 59 percent owned by Inco Limited of Canada and 22
\npercent by Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd.<\/p>\n
Inco chief executive officer Rumengan Musu said the drought
\nwould not affect the company's US$580 million expansion to
\nincrease annual production by 50 percent to 150 million pounds of
\nnickel in matte in 2000. (jsk)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/inco-boosts-nickel-output-1447893297",
"image": ""
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