Antam 1Q ferronickel output down by 16%

JAKARTA (JP): Gold and nickel mining company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) reported on Friday a 16 percent decline in its ferronickel production to 2,406 tons in the first quarter of this year from 2,860 tons in the previous quarter.

Antam, which mines nickel, gold and bauxite, however, maintained the company would be able to meet its target of 10,000 tons this year.

"We are still on target to produce 10,000 tons of nickel by the year end," Antam said in a report submitted to the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX).

The company added that the year-on-year production of nickel ore in the first quarter slightly increased to 694,790 wet metric tons, but decreased by 46 percent from the previous quarter.

The decline was attributed to the unstable security conditions at one of the company's production sites, on Gebe Island in Maluku province.

Maluku province, located in the northern part of Indonesia, has been hit for the past six months by religious conflicts.

The other company's production site at Pomalaa managed to increase its production but still could not adequately offset the reduced production on Gebe Island, according to Antam.

Antam still expects the nickel ore production in 2000 to match last year's level, which was 2.1 million wmt, it added.

The company's ferronickel sales volume was up 165 percent at 2,194 tons in the first quarter this year over the same period last year, but decreased by 37 percent compared to the previous quarter.

Antam said it booked higher than normal sales in the fourth quarter last year as many purchase contract commitments were realized ahead of schedule.

Gold production, Antam said, continued its strong performance in the first quarter this year, increasing by 2 percent compared to the previous quarter and 287 percent compared to the same quarter last year.

The company said that it was well positioned to achieve its production target of 3.3 tons of gold this year.

The improved production was attributed to the decreasing number of illegal miners at the company's mining site and the remediation of technical problems, the company added.

Gold sales in the first quarter year-on-year increased by almost 200 percent at 941 kilograms, but decreased by 16 percent compared to the previous quarter last year.

The decrease was due to domestic value added tax (VAT), which in turn reduced demands, the company said.

Aneka Tambang is listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) and the Australia Stock Exchange. Its share price was up Rp 75 to close at Rp 1,125 on Friday on the JSX. (udi)