www.ferro-alloys.com:  Indonesia's state-owned miner Aneka Tambang (Antam) ANTM.JK has been granted an initial approval to export up to 2.7 million tonnes of nickel ore over the next 12 months, a mining ministry official said on Wednesday.

Indonesia's ore export ban has supported nickel prices and a resumption of its shipments could hurt prices of the metal.

"In terms of administration it's OK. Now all that's left is for it to be signed by the director general," Mineral Enterprise Director Bambang Susigit said.

A spokesman for Antam said the company was still waiting for the recommendation to be officially issued by the mining ministry, and declined to comment further.

Antam said in February it had stockpiles of an estimated 5 million wet metric tonnes of low-grade nickel ore that was ready to ship. (Full Story)

Antam shares gained around 3.5 percent on Wednesday, while the broader Jakarta Composite Index .JKSEthat closed up 0.93 percent.

Benchmark three-month nickel futures on the London Metals Exchange CMNI3 were down around 0.25 percent to $9,970 per tonne at 10.35 GMT.

• [Editor:Licaixia]