PTBA backs off from acquiring MHU<\/p>\n
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
State coal and mining company PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam
\n(PTBA) has backed off from its plan to acquire small coal miner
\nPT Multi Harapan Utama (MHU), putting the smaller company's
\nfuture at risk, a government official said.<\/p>\n
PTBA reported the planned acquisition to the Ministry of
\nEnergy and Mineral Resources recently, director-general of
\ngeology and mineral resources Simon Sembiring said over the
\nweekend.<\/p>\n
Simon said MHU currently owed the government some US$8 million
\nin royalties and some $42 million more to contractors.<\/p>\n
"We wanted to terminate (MHU's contract), but when PTBA said
\nthat it was going to acquire the company, we gave it another
\nchance," said Simon.<\/p>\n
If there were no updates from the small coal miner in a week,
\nthe ministry would go ahead with its plan to terminate the
\ncontract, Simon said.<\/p>\n
"We will seize its assets and mining area," he said. "We may
\ntender out the area afterwards."<\/p>\n
PTBA had announced that it expected a significant boost in its
\ncoal output starting this year, pending the successful
\nacquisition of several coal mining firms.<\/p>\n
PTBA president director Ismet Harmaini on Sunday confirmed the
\ncancellation of his company's plan to acquire MHU. The firm is
\ncurrently having a due dilligence of two coal producers in
\nKalimantan.<\/p>\n
The fifth-largest coal producer in the country, PTBA mined 9.9
\nmillion tons of coal in 2004. The company, which exports a third
\nof its output, aims to raise production to 10.2 million this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
MHU, which operates a mine in Busang, East Kalimantan,
\nproduces some 1.6 million tons of coal annually. MHU has
\nestimated reserves of between 25 million and 30 million tons.<\/p>\n
PTBA needs to rise its output significantly as it has inked
\nseveral new domestic commitments -- a 200-megawatt (MW) coal-
\nfired plant in Lahat and a 2400 MW plant in Tanjung Enim, both in
\nSouth Sumatra -- which require a supply of 1.2 million tons of
\ncoal a year and 10 million tons, respectively, starting in 2009.<\/p>\n
The publicly-listed company will also supply 3.5 million tons
\nof coal a year to another planned 500-MW power plant in Indragiri
\nHulu, Riau, when it starts producing electricity in 2010.<\/p>\n
The company also wants to cash in on rising international
\nprices, as the world turns to coal and gas to fire its power
\nplants amid soaring oil prices. A supply cut from China, as the
\ncountry concentrated its coal output for domestic use, forced
\nother major consumers to look elsewhere for the mineral fuel and
\nfurther increased prices.<\/p>\n
PTBA more than doubled its unaudited net income in the three
\nmonths ending March 31 to Rp 116 billion ($12 million) from Rp
\n51.22 billion booked in the corresponding period the previous
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Operating mines in West and South Sumatra, PTBA has coal
\nresources of about 7.36 billion tons -- or about 17 percent of
\nthe country's total coal deposits -- with total mineable reserves
\nof 1.47 billion tons.<\/p>\n
At present, the government controls 65 percent of shares in
\nBukit Asam, which mines about one-tenth of the country's coal
\noutput, with the public owning the rest.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ptba-backs-off-from-acquiring-mhu-1447893297",
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