PT Inco production may plunge
Saturday, February 19 2011 - 02:31 AM WIB
Inco's president director Tony Wenas said the furnace rebuild would take place in the second semester of the year. He refused to identify the plant and the budget allocated for the project.
Inco operates three plants in Sorowako in South Sulawesi.
?The furnace rebuild will take us 21 weeks to complete,? he said recently.
He deemed the furnace rebuild would affect the company?s production this year, but he could not estimate the decline. The company produced 170.16 million pounds of nickel ore last year.
Inco has never rebuilt its furnace for quite so long, although commonly it occurs every 10 years. Despite the lower production, the company views the nickel price will increase compared with that of last year. Nickel was recently sold at US$29,000 per ton in international market. Inco hopes the price to average $28,000 per ton this year.
The company has also set a target of completing a hydro power plant with a capacity of 90 megawatts in Karebe in the middle of the year.
?In July the turbine 1 will be on line and the turbine 2 will follow in August,? Tony said.
With the power plant operating the company will be able to curb production cost from the use of fuel. Inco has been using high sulfur fuel oil (HSFO), which is expensive, to operate its plants.
Inco concessions cover 218,529 hectares of area across South Sulawesi (lake area), Central Sulawesi (Bahudopi, Lingke, Bulubalang, Kolonodale) and Southeast Sulawesi (Latao, Suasua, Paopao, Pomalaa, Torobulu, Malapulu, Matarape, Lasolo). But only about 6,000 hectares are being explored.
Inco signed the service contract on July 27, 1969 for a period of 30 years starting from its commercial production on April 1, 1978 to March 31, 2008. On Jan. 15, 1996, Inco extended the contract for another 30 years until 2025.
Inco has released four of its blocks in Maluputu, Torobulu, Lasolo and Paopao covering a total of 28,000 hectares or 12.8 percent of its concession area. (*)