Indonesia's Antam sees plunge in nickel ore output due to ban

JAKARTA, Jan 13 (Reuters) - State-owned Indonesian miner Perusahaan Perseroan Aneka Tambang (Antam) ANTM.JK expects nickel ore production to drop 87 percent this year from last year, as it limits output to only domestic use following the government's ban on mineral ore exports on Sunday.

"Nickel ore production in 2013, both for our plant consumption and export, was about 11.5 million tonnes. While our nickel ore production target in 2014 is 1.5 million tonnes," said Tri Hartono, the company's corporate secretary.

Indonesia introduced the controversial ban on Sunday on a range of raw mineral ores in order to force home companies to build processing plants on Indonesian soil, but policy confusion remains.

(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

((Randolph.Fabi@thomsonreuters.com)(+62 21 3199 7170)(Reuters Messaging: randolph.fabi.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: INDONESIA MINERALS/ANTAM