PT Trimegah Bangun Persada Tbk ( NCKL ) confirmed that the plan to build a stainless steel smelter will be included in the NCKL pipeline project on Obi Island.

The construction of the smelter is to absorb ferronickel production produced by NCKL. The smelter also aims to process ferronickel products and sell them to the domestic market.

"Hopefully this pipeline can run smoothly and can be executed in the not too distant future. This really takes time because the investment value is quite large,” said Roy Arman Arfandy, Main Director of NCKL in an online discussion with Stockbit Sekuritas, Friday (11/8).

However, Roy did not elaborate further on the investment value of the construction of the stainless steel smelter.

In terms of performance, NCKL continues to increase production capacity. Currently, NCKL is starting the process of leaning up a second smelter run by PT Halmahera Jaya Feronikel with an installed capacity of around 95,000 tons.

Considering that it is still in the process of leaning up, Ray estimates that this year's total production will only be 90,000 tons, coming from Megah Surya Pertiwi (MSP) which has a production capacity of 25,000 tons and PT Halmahera Jaya Feronikel (HJF) of 65,000 tons.

"This is also a significant jump because ferronickel production in 2022 is only 25,000 tons coming from MSP. This year there is an additional 65,000 tons from HJF," continued Roy.

So, next year, NCKL's ferronickel production will grow. This is because next year HJF will have finished the rumping up process and will reach full capacity of 95,000 tonnes. Thus, NCKL's ferronickel production capacity next year will reach 120,000 tons, which is an increase of 30% from 2023.

In 2025, the third smelter run by PT Karunia Permai Sentosa (KPS) which has a capacity of 185,000 tons will operate. Thus, when KPS production reaches full capacity, NCKL's ferronickel production will reach 305,000 tons.

"This is a significant step that will drive our business growth because there is an increase in ferronickel production," concluded Roy

Later, the ferronickel product from the third smelter is expected to be further processed for derivative products such as stainless steel.

As of the first semester of 2023, NCKL's revenue increased 88.74% on an annual basis or year-on-year (YoY) to IDR 10.24 trillion in the first semester of 2023. Previously, NCKL's consolidated revenue amounted to IDR 5.42 trillion in the first semester of 2022 .

The increase in revenue is in line with the increase in sales volume. The High Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) refinery production line recorded a sales increase of 22% to 23,969 tons of nickel content.

This issuer affiliated with the Harita Group also posted a 171% increase in ferronickel sales volume to 37,756 tons from the original 13,910 tons in the first half of 2022.

At the same time, the increase in NCKL's revenue was also accompanied by an increase in expenses in a number of expense items. Cost of goods sold, for example, rose 177.41% yoy to IDR 6.74 trillion in the first half of 2023.

The increase in expenses was also seen in selling, general and administrative expenses which rose 89.62% to Rp 752.22 billion. Financial costs rose 186.62% to IDR 285.33 billion in the first half of 2023.

Thus, profit for the period attributable to owners of the parent entity, aka NCKL's net profit, fell 14.65% from IDR 3.21 trillion in the first semester of 2022 to IDR 2.74 trillion in the first semester of 2023.

Image source: Dok/NCKL

Source: https://industri.kontan.co.id/news/smelter-stainless-steel-masuk-dalam-pipeline-proyek-trimegah-bangun-nckl