Wednesday, 18 July 2012

PTBA’s coal production hits 7 million tons in 1H

The Jakarta Post | Business | Wed, July 18 2012
State-owned coal miner PT Bukit Asam (PTBA) saw growing business as its coal production reached 7 million metric tons in the first six months of the year, an official said.

The production was about 13 percent higher than the company’s 6.19 million metric tons of coal produced during the same period last year.

PTBA’s corporate secretary, Hananto Budi Laksono, said that the increase in production would help the company to collect higher revenues amid the pressure on the coal prices.

“We are still counting on our average coal selling price. Hopefully, the price won’t be too different from the first quarter,” Hananto said.

The company’s average coal selling price stood at Rp 781,142 (US$82) per metric ton in the first quarter of the year, an increase of about 4 percent compared to Rp 751,457 per metric ton in the first quarter last year.

Coal miners have been under pressure lately due to falling prices over high production but lower demand from big consumers such as China, which is experiencing an economic slowdown.

According to the Directorate General of Minerals and Coal of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, the reference price of coal (HBA) stood at $96.65 per metric ton in June, a 5 percent drop from $102.29 in January.

Hananto said PTBA was concerned about the reduced prices, but the company expected its revenue to grow as most of its coal was sold to the domestic market, particularly to state-owned electricity company PT PLN, at contract prices.

“The price of coal in the domestic market is still fine; however, there is pressure on exported coal. Domestic sales have helped our first half revenue to be higher compared with the same period last year,” Hananto said.

PTBA’s revenue reached Rp 5.1 trillion during the first half of last year. The company is targeting to mine around 17 million metric tons of coal this year. In sales volume, it expects to sell up to 18.66 million metric tons by the year’s end, a significant increase of 39 percent from its 2011 sales of 13.47 million metric tons.

With the growing sales, the company is estimating that its revenue will stand at Rp 14 trillion this year, almost 32 percent up from the Rp 10.58 trillion it gained last year. PTBA is planning to produce 50 million metric tons of coal by 2016. In its attempts to meet the target, the company is developing supporting facilities, such as a new railroad connecting its mining sites in Tanjung Enim to Bandar Lampung.

— JP/Raras Cahyafitri

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