Bernardus Irmanto, chief financial officer of PT Vale Indonesia, a nickel miner, said on Wednesday that it raised its 2020 nickel matte production target from the initial 71,000 tons to 73,700 tons.
Nickel matte is a crude smelting product of ore, which has a high sulfur content and can be further processed into metal.
Irmanto said that the increase in production expectations is due to the delay of the furnace reconstruction plan, which is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2021, rather than the fourth quarter of 2020.
In the April-June season, the company's nickel matte production was 18,701 tons, an increase of 6.1% from 17,631 tons in the same period last year.
Irmanto said that Vale's nickel matte production in 2021 is expected to be lower than this year, but he did not give specific data.
"We have decided to rebuild the furnace in 2021, so the output in 2021 is bound to decrease," Irmanto said.
