Inco posts $1.5m net profit

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly-listed nickel mining company PT International Nickel Indonesia (INCO) announced on Friday an unaudited net profit of US$1.5 million for the third quarter of the year, compared with a net loss of $0.8 million in the corresponding period of last year.

Net profits for the first nine months of the year were $3.5 million, compared with $9.9 million in the corresponding period of last year, the company said in a statement.

Company president and chief executive officer Rumengan Musu said the profit was "as a result of the continuing increase in the price of nickel."

The company's realized price for nickel in matte averaged $4,513 per ton in the third quarter of the year, up from $4,122 per ton in the second quarter of the year and $3,682 per ton in the third quarter of 1998.

It produced 10,100 tons of nickel in matte in the third quarter of the year, compared with 7,800 tons in the corresponding period of 1998 and 10,700 tons in the second quarter of 1999.

Inco operates a giant nickel mine in Soroako in South Sulawesi. (jsk)