Inco Indonesia nine-month profits fall 62 percent on low nickel prices

PT International Nickel Indonesia Tbk (INCO.JK), one of the world’s top nickel producers...

PT International Nickel Indonesia Tbk (INCO.JK), one of the world’s top nickel producers, said its nine-month net profit slumped 62 percent to $369.1 million due to a sharp drop in nickel prices and slower sales.The Jakarta-listed company, in which Brazil’s Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (VALE5.SA) has a stake, said that sales fell 39 percent to $1.13 billion in the January-September period.Inco said in a statement that it sold nickel at an average price of $19,803 a tonne in the first nine months of 2008, down 37.8 percent from $31,874 a tonne in the same period last year.The firm sold 57,171 tonnes of nickel in matte form in the first nine months, down from 59,461 tonnes a year ago.Production of nickel in matte form in the first nine months fell 3.25 percent to 56,227 tonnes, from 58,119 tonnes a year ago, due mainly to maintenance work at one of the firm’s furnaces which led to a shutdown in the third quarter. The shutdown had originally been planned for the fourth quarter.Nickel MNI3 at the London Metal Exchange closed at $10,000 a tonne on Friday, down 80 percent from the all-time high of $51,800 hit in May 2007.The price of nickel used in stainless steel has slumped more than 60 percent from the beginning of this year and some mining companies have been forced to cut back output or delay projects as prices have fallen below the marginal cost of production. (Reporting by Fitri Wulandari; Editing by Sara Webb)