Bukit Asam to raise production<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): State coal producer PT Tambang Batubara Bukit
\nAsam will increase its production by 27 percent to 12.8 million
\ntons this year, the company has said.<\/p>\n
Company president RA Sunardi said Monday evening at a breaking
\nof the fast gathering that the company would raise output this
\nyear to meet increasing demand from domestic and overseas
\nmarkets.<\/p>\n
The company will increase its exports to 2.8 million tons, or
\n22 percent of this year's projected output, from 1.9 million
\ntons, or 18 percent of the output, in 1997.<\/p>\n
The company exports coal to Japan, Malaysia and Thailand.<\/p>\n
In the domestic market, the company expects an increase in
\ndemand this year from its largest buyer, PT Pembangkitan Listrik
\nJawa Bali I (PJB I), a subsidiary of state electricity company
\nPLN, for its coal-fired Suralaya power plant in West Java.<\/p>\n
The Suralaya power plant is the country's largest power plant
\nwith a power-generation capacity of 3,400 megawatts.<\/p>\n
According to PJB I data, the Suralaya power plant will need
\n9.47 million tons of coal this year, up from 6.88 million tons
\nlast year.<\/p>\n
Sunardi said Bukit Asam would also supply more coal to its
\npower plant at the company's production base in Tanjung Enim,
\nSouth Sumatra, this year, but he did not specify when.<\/p>\n
Bukit Asam used to be the country's largest coal producer, but
\nPT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), owned by British companies British
\nPetroleum and Rio Tinto, based in Sangatta. East Kalimantan,
\noutpaced Bukit Asam with an output of 13.5 million tons last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Bukit Asam will remain behind KPC this year, as KPC plans to
\nincrease output to 15 million tons this year.<\/p>\n
Sunardi said the monetary crisis affected the company's
\nperformance last year, since only 18 percent of its income was in
\ndollars, while 35 percent of the company's expenditures were in
\ndollars.<\/p>\n
He said company sales amounted to Rp 724 billion last year, up
\nfrom Rp 625 billion in 1996. But profits were down by one-third
\nto about Rp 62 billion in 1997, compared to its profit of Rp 89
\nbillion in 1996.<\/p>\n
\"The profit for this year is hard to predict due to the
\ncurrency fluctuation,\" Sunardi said.<\/p>\n
He said to cope with the monetary crisis, the company would
\nswitch to locally made equipment over imports to cut back on
\ndollar expenditures.<\/p>\n
He said Bukit Asam had also renegotiated with customers on
\ncoal prices.<\/p>\n
PJB I president Firdaus Akmal said earlier the company had
\nagreed with Bukit Asam to increase the coal price for the
\nSuralaya power plant to Rp 93,000 per ton from Rp 73,000 per ton.<\/p>\n
He said the new price would be effective for six months
\nstarting Jan. 1. (jsk)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bukit-asam-to-raise-production-1447893297",
"image": ""
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