Indonesias Bukit Asam sees its coal prices rising
Indonesian state coal miner PT Bukit Asam Tbk expects its coal export prices to rise by at least 45 percent this year, in line with rising global prices and strong demand, a company official said on Thursday.
Bukit Asam — the smallest of Indonesia’s three listed coal miners — sold coal in the overseas market at an average $47.5 a tonne in 2007, Nurtimah Tobing, Bukit Asam’s investor relation officer, told Reuters.
“We expect coal prices for export to rise by at least 45 percent because global prices continue to gain,” Tobing said. “But it may be higher as some of our coal has not been contracted.”
Australian thermal coal prices, a benchmark for Asia, rose to a 13-week high to top $138 a tonne in the latest week, extending a three-week rally that was spurred by strong global demand amid high oil prices.
Bukit Asam, which has a market value of $2.9 billion, plans to sell 13 million tonnes of coal this year with about 10.5 million tonnes supplied from its own production.It will buy the rest from small coal miners in Kalimantan island.
The company sold 10.85 million tonnes of coal in 2007.
Indonesia is the world’s largest thermal coal exporter and miners in the country have been performing well due to high coal prices, strong demand from China and India, and supply constraints in Australia.
The company has sold 1.1 million tonnes of coal to Bukit Asam power plant in Sumatra at 325,000 rupiah a tonne this year, Tobing said.
It has also sold 800,000 tonnes of coal to Tarahan power plant in Lampung on Sumatra island at 436,500 rupiah a tonne. Last week, the company said it has signed deals to supply Suralaya power plant in West Java at $58.53 a tonne for June-December this year. Bukit Asam has agreed to supply Suralaya with 5.1 million tonnes of coal this year.
Source
