PT Bukit Asam to raise coal output<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned coal mining company PT Tambang
\nBatubara Bukit Asam has said it plans to raise its coal output to
\n12.1 million tons this year from 10.1 million tons last year.<\/p>\n
Company president R.A. Sunardi said late on Monday that last
\nyear the company had to curtail output to 10.1 million tons after
\noriginally planning to extract 11.8 million tons because of
\nsluggish demand in both foreign and domestic markets.<\/p>\n
\"The Suralaya power plant, which was expected to use eight
\nmillion tons of our coal last year, only required 6.9 million
\ntons,\" Sunardi said at a gathering to break the fast.<\/p>\n
The Suralaya power plant in West Java is owned by state
\nelectricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).<\/p>\n
Bukit Asam sells 70 percent of its coal to Suralaya and
\nexports the rest to overseas markets, including Malaysia,
\nThailand and the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Sunardi also said that Bukit Asam coal exports decreased to
\n1.71 million tons last year from 1.87 million tons in 1997 as a
\nresult of the regional economic crisis.<\/p>\n
Sunardi said Bukit Asam had now turned its attention to new
\noverseas markets which were less affected by the regional
\nrecession, including Taiwan, Europe, the United States and
\nTurkey.<\/p>\n
Sunardi refused to disclose the company's 1998 profits, but
\nsaid that last year the company paid a total of Rp 298.27 billion
\nto the government in taxes, royalties and dividends, an increase
\non the Rp 144.2 billion paid in 1997. This year, he said, the
\ncompany expects to pay Rp 309.26 billion in taxes, royalties and
\ndividends.<\/p>\n
Sunardi said that Bukit Asam was seeking to raise the price of
\ncoal it sells to the Suralaya power plant to Rp 167,000 per ton.
\nThe current price, Rp 93,000, is below the production cost, he
\nexplained.<\/p>\n
\"We also need to raise the price we sell coal for because the
\ngovernment has said that we are going to be privatized.<\/p>\n
\"Investors will value the company below its true value if we
\ncontinue to sell coal to Suralaya at the current price,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Bukit Asam is one of a number of state-owned companies that
\nthe government has said it will privatize during the coming
\nfiscal year to raise funds to finance the budget deficit.<\/p>\n
Sunardi said that Bukit Asam plans to reduce sales to the
\nSuralaya power plant by 20 percent to allow it to increase
\nexports.<\/p>\n
He also said Bukit Asam was planning closer cooperation with
\nstate railway company Perumka to increase the capacity of the
\nrail link between Bukit Asam's mine in Tanjung Enim, South
\nSumatra, with Lampung's Tarahan port. (jsk)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pt-bukit-asam-to-raise-coal-output-1447893297",
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