Singapore 04/05/2016 - Ferronickel sales volume at PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) fell 38.2 percent year-on-year to 2,625 tonnes (contained nickel) in January-March, it said
The Indonesia state-owned firm did not provide a reason for the decline in its first-quarter report.
Antam's ferronickel output fell 3.4 percent year-on-year to 4,357 tonnes during the quarter due to the repair of a furnace transformer at its FeNi II smelter.
Its high-grade nickel ore output slumped 42 percent year-on-year to 250,986 wet tonnes (wmt) in January-March.
The company's high-grade nickel ore sales volume was 201,050 wmt in the first three months of the year. It did not make any sales of nickel ore in the first quarter of last year. This year, the raw material was sold to a domestic third-party smelter, Antam said.
Antam posted income of 5.29 billion rupiah ($399,000) in the first quarter, swinging from a loss of 240 billion rupiah in the same period of last year.
Antam is carrying out various projects that will lift its ferronickel output. It is in the final stage of its Pomalaa ferronickel plant expansion project, which will lift Antam’s ferronickel capacity by 50 percent to 27,000-30,000 tonnes per year of contained nickel (assuming nickel ore feed of 1.9 percent).
The company is also aiming to complete the first stage of its Haltim ferronickel project at East Halmehera In Indonesia's Maluku province by 2018. This will increase Antam's ferronickel capacity by 13,500-15,000 tonnes per year.
In April, Antam and Germany's Cronimet Holding and Ferrostaal Industrial Projects signed an agreement to jointly develop a ferronickel plant in Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi.
The company’s gold production slipped 11.5 percent year-on-year to 479 kilograms in the first quarter of this year. Its gold sales volume dipped 23.3 percent year-on-year to 2.907 tonnes during the same period.
Antam officials could not be reached for comment.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)