Oct 19 (Reuters) - PT Vale Indonesia's nickel matte production fell 13% in the first nine months of this year compared to a year ago due to planned maintenance issues, the company said on Tuesday.

Nickel matte production from January to September stood at 48,373 tonnes, down from 55,792 tonnes in the same period last year, it said in a statement.

Lower production was "due to maintenance activities that occurred in the first quarter of this year", the company said.

In the year's third quarter, nickel matte production fell 6.9% to 18,127 tonnes compared to the same period last year, but jumped 20% compared to the quarter earlier, the statement showed. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe; Writing by Fathin Ungku; Editing by Martin Petty)