PT Trimegah Bangun Persada (NCKL), also known as Harita Nickel, recorded a significant increase in the production and sales of nickel ore and ferronickel throughout 2023.
According to the company’s reports for the year 2023, Harita Nickel’s actual production of nickel ore throughout 2023 reached 20.75 million wet metric tons (wmt), marking a staggering 93.7 percent increase compared to the realization in 2022, which stood at 10.72 million wmt.
This increase in production was accompanied by a surge in sales. Harita Nickel noted a 98 percent increase in the volume of nickel ore sales, reaching 15.38 million wmt compared to 7.77 million wmt in 2022.
The sales volume comprised high-grade nickel or saprolite amounting to 6.30 million wmt, rising by 235 percent from 1.88 million wmt, and low-grade nickel or limonite totaling 9.08 million wmt, up by 54 percent from 5.89 million wmt.
On the processing and refining side of the nickel business, Harita recorded a 300 percent increase in ferronickel production, from 25,372 tons in 2022 to 101,538 tons in 2023. The company’s ferronickel sales also surged by 299 percent, from 25,302 tons in 2022 to 100,891 tons in 2023.
The increase in ferronickel sales was driven by the full operation of the rotary kiln-electric furnace (RKEF) smelter production facilities managed by PT Halmahera Jaya Feronikel (HJF). HJF completed two production lines by the end of 2022. The third, fourth, and fifth production lines were completed in January 2023, February 2023, and March 2023, respectively. The remaining three production lines were finished by May 2023.
The average production realization of HJF from August to December 2023 reportedly reached 8,508 tons of ferronickel, which was 7 percent of the designated capacity. The company also saw a 50 percent increase in the production of mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), a raw material for electric vehicle batteries, from 42,310 tons in 2022 to 63,654 tons in 2023.
“This production increase reflects the company’s strategic focus to expand its production capabilities and strengthen its position in the market,” Harita Nickel’s President Director, Roy Arman Arfandy, said.
Alongside the increase in sales, Harita recorded a 20 percent growth in profit. In 2023, the profit attributable to the owners of the parent entity reached Rp5.62 trillion (US$353.3 million), up from Rp4.67 trillion in 2022.
Roy said that this growth reflects effective operational management and stable growth amidst a fluctuating market, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for profit attributable to the owners of the parent entity reaching 170 percent since the fiscal year 2020.
Furthermore, in total for 2023, Harita Nickel recorded revenue of Rp23.86 trillion, an increase of 149 percent from the previous year, and gross profit of Rp8.28 trillion, up by 77 percent from the previous year.
