Hundreds of workers at the firm's Sorowako site on Sulawesi island have been on strike since November 15, demanding higher bonuses and wages, said Jannus Siahaan, the spokesman of PT International Nickel Indonesia <INCO.JK>.
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Workers at the Indonesian unit of nickel producer Inco Ltd resumed work on Monday after an 11-day strike that caused a production loss of 5 million pounds of nickel, a company official said.
Hundreds of workers at the firm's Sorowako site on Sulawesi island have been on strike since November 15, demanding higher bonuses and wages, said Jannus Siahaan, the spokesman of PT International Nickel Indonesia <INCO.JK>.
"We signed an agreement on Sunday and mining operations are running normally again today. We are optimistic that we can meet this year's target of 165 million pounds," said Siahaan.
The company's mining site in Sorowako has 3,500 workers and another 3,500 contract workers.
!ADVERTISEMENT!PT Inco, wholly owned by Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce <VALE5.SA><RIO.N> through Canada's Inco Ltd, produced 157.9 million pounds, or 71,700 tonnes of nickel in matte last year, a product which is used in stainless steel production.
The firm expects to complete a hydroelectric dam which is expected to supply an additional 90 megawatts of power per year to boost production of nickel in matte to about 200 million pounds a year in 2010.
The prices of nickel on London Metal Exchange fell $800 to $28,800 on Friday.
The company's nine-month net profit was almost four times to $972.55 million compared with $247.91 millions in the same period last year.
(Reporting by Mita Valina Liem, editing by Sugita Katyal, Valerie Lee)
