Indonesia's Antam eyes 30 pct rise in gold sales after nickel ore export ban

JAKARTA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Indonesia's state-owned PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) ANTM.JK is hoping a 30 percent rise in gold sales this year will ease the impact of a recently introduced nickel ore export ban, its finance director told Reuters on Wednesday.

Other than nickel, Antam, which is 65 percent government-owned, also produces gold, bauxite and coal.

The company expects to sell 13 tonnes of gold this year, up from a range of 9 tonnes to 10 tonnes in 2013. It also projects capital expenditure of 2.8 trillion rupiah ($232.4 million), compared with 2 trillion rupiah last year, as more projects come onstream.

"The gold sales that we are raising will help us," said Antam Finance Director Djaja Tambunan. "We have other businesses, so our portfolio is quite wide."

Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's Rating Services on Tuesday said they are reviewing Antam for a possible credit-rating downgrade.

All of Antam's nickel ore sales are generated through exports and the company could lose around $300 million in revenue this year due to the ban, Moody's said. ($1 = 12,050.00 Indonesian rupiah)

(Reporting by Fathiyah Dahrul; Writing by Eveline Danubrata; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

((eveline.danubrata@thomsonreuters.com)(+62 21 3199 7170)(Reuters Messaging: eveline.danubrata.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: INDONESIA ANTAM/