PTBA Records Production Growth Amid Coal Price Pressures
PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) recorded growth in coal production and sales throughout 2025 amid global coal price pressures.
PTBA’s President Director Arsal Ismail stated that 2025 was a challenging period for the global coal industry due to a significant decline in prices compared to the previous year.
“PT Bukit Asam, in facing such situations and conditions, has been able to maintain solid operational performance and demonstrate strong resilience,” Arsal said during a press conference in Jakarta on Monday.
He explained that the company’s production increased by 9% to 47.2 million tonnes. Sales also grew by 6% to 45.4 million tonnes, in line with the coal transportation volume rising 6% from 38.2 million tonnes in 2024 to 40.4 million tonnes in 2025.
He noted that the price decline was quite noticeable, both in the Newcastle index and the Indonesian Coal Index (ICI), which serves as the reference for the company’s selling prices.
“If we look at the Newcastle index, the decline is quite significant at 25%. The ICI index, where we mostly used ICI 3 in 2025, also fell annually by 16%,” he said.
Nevertheless, he stated that PTBA was still able to maintain market balance with a sales composition of 54% for domestic markets and 46% for exports.
On the export side, he mentioned that PTBA also diversified its markets beyond main destinations such as China and India.
The company expanded its marketing to Bangladesh, Vietnam, South Korea, and the Philippines, and began entering the European market such as Spain and Romania.
In fiscal year 2025, PTBA booked a net profit of Rp2.93 trillion with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of Rp6.08 trillion and an EBITDA margin of around 14%.
He emphasised that the company’s operational fundamentals remain healthy despite profitability being pressured by the decline in global coal selling prices.
“We believe that with strong fundamentals, adaptive strategies, and support from all stakeholders, PTBA will be able to maintain sustainable positive performance while creating long-term added value for all stakeholders,” he concluded.