Central Sulawesi's Earnings From Nickel Exports To China Up

Palu, C Sulawesi, Jan 9 (ANTARA) - Central Sulawesi earn US$83.21 million from nickel exports to China last year, or an increase of 76 percent from US$47.58 million in the previous year. The province exported 2.93 million tons of the commodity to China last year up from 1.53 million tons in 2011, Abdul Muis, the head of imports and exports division of the the provincial industry and trade office, said. There were four companies exporting nickel ores from Central Sulawesi including CV Surya Amindo Perkasa, PT Total Prima Indonesia, PT Graha Sumber Mining Indo and PT Integra Service Nusantara. Muin said nickel ore is Central Sulawesi`s largest export earner in 2011 and 2012 relegating cacao beans, which had long been the province`s main export commodity. Currently cacao beans contributed the second largest to the province`s export earning reaching US$78.53 million last year or down sharply from US$132 million in the previous year. A sharp decline in the exports of cacao beans contributed to a 11 percent fall in the province`s total export earning to US$173 million in 2012. Sulawesi including Central Sulawesi is the country`s largest producer of cacao bean . The decline in exports of cacao bean was caused by shrinking production largely on plant disease. Indonesia is the third largest producer of cacao beans in the world after the Ivory Coast and Ghana.