Inco to boost output by 25% in 2009
Inco to boost output by 25% in 2009
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Publicly listed PT International Nickel Indonesia (Inco), a local
subsidiary of the world's second largest nickel company Canada-
based Inco Ltd., said it would boost its output by 25 percent in
2009 and set up the necessary infrastructure to support it.
Company president Bing Tobing told a press briefing on Monday
that the firm was in the process of building a new hydropower
plant in South Sulawesi to help raise the output capacity of its
giant nickel mine to 200 million pounds of nickel matte by 2009.
Inco, which operates a nickel mine in Soroako, South Sulawesi,
produced about 160 million pounds of nickel in matte last year.
"The new plant will increase the power generating capacity by
90 megawatts and reduce the company's energy supply risk in the
dry season," Bing announced.
Bing said the new plant would be worth US$150 million in new
investment and would become the company's third plant, which
would in total be able to generate power of up to 275 megawatts.
The company has been operating in the country since 1968 and
has invested some US$2.4 billion.
"This is a show of commitment from our company to stay here in
Indonesia and continue to increase our presence here in the
country," a media statement quoted Bing as saying.
Inco has benefited from the recent surge in global nickel
prices. Last year alone, the price skyrocketed to a 14-year high,
driven mainly by growing demand from producers of stainless steel
and other alloys in China and the U.S.
The company's realized price for nickel in matte averaged
$10,916 per ton as of the third quarter last year, as compared to
$7,037 in the corresponding period the year before.
Under the company's dollar-denominated long-term contracts,
the selling price of its nickel in matte is determined by price
movements on the London Metal Exchange.
On another matter, Bing said that in a show of solidarity to
the victims of tsunami disaster, the company had donated some Rp
7 billion for the relief operation in Aceh and North Sumatra.