Coal news and updates

State-controlled coal miner Bukit Asam posted lower profit last year as a result of declining global coal prices.

 

Net income fell 37 percent to Rp 1.83 trillion in 2013 from a year earlier, the company said in a statement released on Thursday.

 

Revenue at Rp 11.21 trillion was slightly lower than the Rp 11.59 trillion recorded a year earlier.

 

The average selling price of coal at Bukit Asam fell 17 percent to Rp 629,737 per metric ton last year compared to 2012.

 

“The decline in the global coal price index by about 20 percent to 25 percent in 2013 has affected the company’s average selling price,” Bukit Asam said in a statement.

 

The company sold 17.76 million metric tons of coal in 2013, 16 percent more than a year earlier. To mitigate the declining price, Bukit Asam boosted export by 39 percent to 9.49 million ton, which was 54 percent of total sales by volume.

 

“The increase in exports is an effort to maintain the level of revenue as the company exports coal of higher calorific value that has a higher price,” the statement said, adding that high demand for high calorific coal came from Taiwan and China.

 

Bukit Asam produced 17.8 million tons of coal last year and bought 2.7 million tons from other miners.

 

News of falling profit did not affect the company’s stock price on the local bourse.

 

Shares of Bukit Asam rose 1.6 percent to Rp 9,350 on Thursday, compared with the main stock index’s 0.8 percent advance.

 

The company also said it targets to sell 24.7 million tons of coal this year. This is 39 percent higher than last year. Of the total volume targeted this year, 55 percent will be allocated to overseas markets, while the remainder is for domestic buyers.

 

Bukit Asam will produce 19.8 million tons of coal this year, 31 percent more than last year, the company said.

 

To anticipate the higher production volumes, the company will complete its Tarahan Port capacity expansion by the second semester of this year.

 

The port’s capacity will be increased to 25 million metric tons per year.

 

As of now, the port is able to receive and ship between 18 million and 20 million tons of coal.

 

The port expansion is expected to lower transport costs for Bukit Asam’s buyers.

 

The company will also finalize the coal-fired power plant Banjarsari with two turbines that have a 100 megawatt capacity apiece.

 

The power plant is scheduled to start commercial production in the second semester of this year, and Bukit Asam will supply it with 1.4 million tons of coal per year.

 

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/