PT Vale Indonesia Tbk. (INCO) recorded solid operational and financial performance throughout 2025. Despite pressure on nickel prices, Vale is striving to strengthen its expansion foundation and maintain optimism heading into 2026.

According to the 2026 financial report, Vale posted revenue of USD 990.19 million throughout 2025. This realization reflects an increase compared to the USD 950.38 million recorded during the same period in 2024.

On the bottom line, Vale recorded a net profit of USD 76.1 million, equivalent to IDR 12.7 trillion (at the JISDOR exchange rate of IDR 16,720 per US dollar) throughout 2025, a 32% increase compared to the previous year.

Vale's management explained that this solid performance was supported by increased production and cost efficiencies that managed to maintain profitability, even though the commodity market continued to face pressure.

Throughout 2025, production of nickel in matte reached 72,027 metric tons, up from 71,311 tons in 2024. On a quarterly basis, production in the fourth quarter of 2025 was recorded at 17,052 metric tons, a 12% decrease compared to 19,391 tons in the third quarter of 2025.

This decline was caused by the rebuilding activities of Furnace 3, which began in November and is targeted for completion in May 2026. Meanwhile, compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, although production was lower, the overall production for the year recorded an increase.

Furthermore, nickel matte shipments also increased to 73,093 tons compared to 72,625 tons in the previous year. This performance also supported EBITDA, which was recorded at USD 228.2 million throughout 2025.

Despite the weakening price of nickel matte—with the average realized price falling 7% to USD 12,157 per ton—the company still recorded revenue growth. Total revenue rose 4% to USD 990.19 million from USD 950.4 million in 2024.

This increase was driven by higher sales volumes and improvements in the nickel matte payability scheme that came into effect in the middle of last year.

On the bottom line, the company's net profit jumped 32% to USD 76.1 million throughout 2025. This increase is in line with disciplined cost control, reflected in the decrease in the unit cash cost of goods sold to USD 9,339 per ton.

In addition to its core business, Vale began expanding its revenue sources through the sale of saprolite nickel ore. Throughout 2025, sales volume reached 2.31 million wet metric tons, with the largest contribution coming from the Bahodopi Block.

This step serves as one of the revenue diversification strategies amidst fluctuations in global nickel prices.

Nevertheless, the company faced several challenges throughout the year, ranging from operational disruptions early in the year to an oil pipeline leak incident in August 2025. Continued pressure on nickel prices also affected financial performance.

To maintain business continuity, Vale increased its capital expenditure in 2025 to USD 485.9 million, a 46% year-on-year increase, primarily for development projects. As of the end of 2025, the cash position was recorded at USD 376.3 million.

"More than just technical or operational challenges, these events became moments that tested our integrity, credibility, and responsibility towards nature and society. This is where the Company's principles of excellence and resilience were truly put into practice," management stated in the release, quoted Tuesday (4/7/2026).

Entering 2026, the company will accelerate the development of downstream projects, including the Pomalaa project, which has reached approximately 60% progress, and the HPAL project, which is in the 50% construction stage. These projects are targeted for completion in the third quarter of 2026.

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