PT ANEKA Tambang (Persero) Tbk (Antam) aims to increase production and sales of its primary commodities of ferronickel and gold in 2017. The company is targeting production of 24,100 tonnes of ferronickel in 2017, an increase of 19% on the 20,293 tonnes produced in 2016, and also aims to produce 2270kg of gold from its Pongkor and Cibaliung mines, up from 2209kg in 2016.

In line with optimal operations of its ferronickel plants, Antam’s 2016 ferronickel production and sales reached an all-time high while production of nickel ore and gold were on track.

The company’s export market contributed 59% of total sales in 2016. Antam has a solid customer base consisting of leading companies in Asia. Historically, the customer list also includes European companies based in countries with a strong automotive industry base. For ferronickel, Antam also receives high demand from outside China.

In line with the company’s growth projections, construction of the East Halmahera Ferronickel Plant Development Project is on track. Antam is also finalising its next downstream projects to add value to its nickel and bauxite reserves, and is preparing its Line 2 & Line 3 ferronickel plant development projects.

The company has recently completed work on the roof replacement of its Electric Smelting Furnace (ESF)-3 and optimisation of FeNi III ferronickel plant production facilities in line with its efforts to meet the 2017 ferronickel production target.

The optimisation works included relining works of the rotary kiln and rotary dryer as well as modification of the slag pond of the FeNi III ferronickel plant in Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi. The works and optimisation were completed 10 days ahead of schedule.

Operations director Agus Zamzam Jamaluddin said, “We are confident higher ferronickel output will deliver positive results on our earnings coupled with the nickel price which has risen 3% year to date.”

Antam also continues to add value to its reserves through downstream projects using internal financing or working with a strategic partner. For bauxite, Antam is focusing on development of a Smelter Grade Alumina Refinery (SGAR) plant with PT INALUM (Persero).

Antam has recently been issued an export permit from the government enabling it to export low grade nickel and bauxite. It obtained two export recommendations for 2.7 million tonnes of nickel ore and 850,000 tonnes of bauxite.