Antam Q1 sales rise 13 percent

PT Aneka Tambang, an Indonesian state-controlled gold and nickel miner, said sales rose 13 percent in first quarter of 2001 from last year on higher nickel sales.

Sales rose 13 percent to 340.9 billion ($29.5 million) from 301.8 billion rupiah in the first quarter of 2000, the company said in a report. Sales fell 27 percent from the fourth quarter of last year.

While production of nickel was unchanged at 695,000 metric tons, sales rose 19 percent to 567,158 metric tons from 476,181 tons in the previous year.

The price of ferronickel for the quarter fell 24 percent to $2.96 per pound, while the exchange rate rose 33 percent to 9,892 rupiah per U.S. dollar.

The company aims to produce 10,200 tons of nickel this year, compared to 10,111 tons last year. (*)