Inco lowers nickel production outlook for 2000
Thursday, October 26 2000 - 02:00 AM WIB
Inco Ltd. on Tuesday said its nickel production for 2000 would be lower than previously expected due to problems earlier in the year at PT Inco, its operating unit in Indonesia, and at its Ontario smelter.
Inco's chief financial officer George Halatsis said nickel production for the year was at 452 million pounds, compared with 391 million pounds in 1999.
``This is three percent less than our initial plan for 465 million pounds, reflecting the slag dump failure and problems with the kilns and dryer at PT Inco earlier in the year, all of which have now been resolved,'' he told a conference call following the release of the company's third-quarter earnings.
He also referred to problems at Inco's nickel smelter in Sudbury, Ontario, following the scheduled summer shutdown.
Halatsis said high fuel costs for the year would hike Inco's cash unit costs by 8 cents over 1999's. ``We are working hard to identify ways to offset the increase,'' he added.
He said Inco's nickel cash costs should be about 1.30 a pound or about 4 cents higher than 1999's average cash cost of 1.26 a pound. (*)