As ANTAM’s ferronickel smelters operated at optimal levels in 2011, ferronickel production in 2011 rose 5% over 2010 to 19,690 TNi. As such, ANTAM was able to meet the strong demand of ferronickel, selling 19,527 TNi in 2011.
Similar to ferronickel, demand of nickel ore remained robust in 2011, resulting in higher nickel ore production of 13% compared to 2010 to 7,959,184 wmt, which consisted of 3,512,151 wmt of high-grade nickel ore and 4,447,006 wmt of low-grade nickel ore. Inline with higher production, sales of nickel ore also rose by 8% over 2010 to 6,345,742 wmt.
ANTAM’s 2011 gold production volume reached 2,667 kg, with Pongkor’s gold output amounted to 1,987 kg whilst Cibaliung’s gold production reached 680 kg. ANTAM’s gold production decreased 4% compared to 2010 due to lower gold grades. As both Pongkor and Cibaliung are underground mines, the grades of the gold ores are beyond the company’s control. Despite lower production, strong demand of gold boosted sales volume to 8,009 kg in 2011, an increase of 22% compared to 2010.
ANTAM’s financial structure remains strong and solid. At the end of 2011, ANTAM had cash and cash equivalents of Rp5.6 trillion, a 33% increase over Rp4.2 trillion in 2010. ANTAM had Rp3 trillion of Rupiah denominated bonds which was issued at the end of 2011 to largely fund the ferronickel smelters modernisation and optimisation project. ANTAM remains confident on its solid operations and financial performance in 2012. ANTAM targets ferronickel production of 18,000 TNi with sales target of 19,500 TNi in 2012. Meanwhile, ANTAM targets nickel ore production of 9.4 million wmt with 7.8 million wmt of nickel ore sales target in 2012. In 2012, ANTAM targets gold production of 3,100 kg, with Pongkor contributes 2,000 kg of gold and Cibaliung contributes 1,100 kg of gold. ANTAM targets gold sales of 7,000 kg, including third party refining. In 2012, ANTAM targets bauxite production of 100,000 wmt with 100.000 wmt of sales. Coal production and sales are targeted at 1 million tons, respectively.
In 2012 ANTAM continues to focus on its value added growth projects. Construction of ANTAM’s Tayan Chemical Grade Alumina project and the East Halmahera FeNi project remain on track. The optimisation of the FeNi II smelter has begun since mid January 2012 and is expected to complete at the beginning of April 2012. ANTAM’s growth projects reflect the company’s solid position in the value added, downstream mineral business.
