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Nickel miner Vale Indonesia scores higher Q1 yoy sales
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A worker walks by bags of materials belonging to mining company PT Vale Indonesia in Sorowako, South Sulawesi. (JP/Ruslan Sangaji)
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ickel miner PT Vale Indonesia recorded a US$143.9 million sales value in the first quarter of the year, 32 percent higher than in the same period last year.
The sales value was achieved after the company managed to deliver 17,524 metric tons of nickel matte, as shown in the unaudited results for the first quarter of 2017.
Vale Indonesia president director Nico Kanter said the sales value was 19 percent lower than what was achieved in the last quarter of 2016 due to low commodity prices across the globe.
(Read also: Miner Vale Indonesia keeps tightening belt)
“We realized a slightly lower sales price in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the fourth quarter of 2016. We believe nickel price in 2017 will remain low as inventory levels on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange are still high,” he said in a statement released on Thursday.
“There is also uncertainty in the global nickel market over whether the Indonesian ore export quota will add additional volume or simply replace a diminishing ore supply from the Philippines to China.”
Vale Indonesia conduced maintenance activities in the first quarter of the year, one which had a shorter shutdown duration than in the first quarter of 2016. As a result, production volume from January to March was 2 percent higher than last year.
The firm also noted that its cost of revenue fell by 6 percent to $146.4 million from last quarter. However, cost of revenue per metric ton increased due to higher costs of employment, fuels and supplies. (bbn)
