PTBP to boost nickel output to 1.4m tons

By Thomas Sembiring

PT Trimegah Bangun Persada (PTBP), which operates nickel coal mine on Obi Island, North Maluku Province, plans to ramp up production this year to 1.4 million tons following trial production last year.

Robby Irfan Rafianto, PTBP Director, told Petromindo.com on Thursday that production of nickel ores last year totaled only 150,000 tons.

He said that the output will be supplied to a ferronickel smelter co-owned by an affiliated company under the Harita Group.

Harita Group, through subsidiary PT Megah Surya Pertiwi (MSP) has developed a US$320 million ferronickel smelter on Obi Island. Construction of the smelter project started in 2015, and reports said that the smelter started commissioning in October of last year. MSP partners with a number of Chinese firms including Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipes (Singapore) Pte. Ltd, Qiyun Investment Holdings Pte. Ltd, and Corsa Investments Pte. Ltd in developing the smelter which has capacity to produce 100,000 tons of ferronickel per year. The smelter will also receive nickel ore supply form another Harita Group miner PT Gane Permai Sentosa.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak