PT United Tractors Tbk. (UNTR) has set its gold production target in 2024 at 250,000 troy once, after being forced to lower its production target this year.

UNTR Investor Relations Ari Setiawan said the company will boost gold production in Martabe, North Sumatra, which is run by the PT Agincourt Resources business unit, and expects an increase in production from the operation of the Sumbawa Juta Raya (SJR) mine.

Next year is expected to increase, apart from Martabe, also from SJR which is currently in the process of completing infrastructure development. Next year's target is a total of 250,000 troy ounces and in 2025 a total of around 300,000 troy ounces," he said, as quoted on Monday (16/10/2023).

This year, United Tractors must reduce its gold production target by 50 percent due to limited tailings storage facilities which are currently still in the process of increasing capacity.

Ari said that the addition of tailings storage capacity meant the company had to make production adjustments. Therefore, even though gold prices are currently soaring, UNTR continues to maintain its production reduction target.

Production must be adjusted, so we revised down production.Currently, [tailings storage] is under construction and according to the plan it is expected to be completed by the end of the year, so there is no target revision yet," Ari said.

Based on its financial report as of the end of June, UNTR's gold mining business unit in Martabe, North Sumatra, run by PT Agincourt Resources, recorded total sales of 109,477 troy ounces, down 23.85% (year-on-year/YoY).

United Tractors is known to have diversified its business into gold mining by acquiring PT Sumbawa Million Raya (SJR) in 2015, and taking over PT Agincourt Resources (PTAR) in 2018.

On the other hand, the Hamas-Israel conflict which occurred again on October 7 has caused world gold prices to soar. Quoting Bloomberg, in weekend trading Friday, (10/13/2023), the most active gold contract for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Exchange rose USD 58.50 or 3.11% to USD 1,941.50 per troy ounce. Meanwhile, the spot gold price rose 3.42% to USD 1,932.82 per troy ounce.

However, gold prices also tend to be volatile. The precious metal was observed to fall as the US dollar and US government bond (treasury) yields strengthened after inflation rose more than expected.

The latest US consumer price index (CPI) data for September 2023 raises concerns that the Federal Reserve could potentially keep interest rates higher for some time.

Image source: UNTR

Source: www.market.bisnis.com/United Tractors UNTR Targetkan Produksi Emas 250000 Troy Ounce Pada 2024