Arutmin's coal production reached 6.2m tons as of May

PT Arutmin Indonesia, one of the country's major coal producers, produced about 6.2 million tons of coal as of May this year, or about 34 percent of the company's total production target of 18.2 million tons for 2005, Investor Daily reported on Friday

Arutmin's external affairs manager Sonny T. Pengestu said in Jakarta on Thursday that the Kalimantan-based company produced 1.2 million tons of coal in January, 1.1 million tons in February, 1.1 million tons in March, 1.3 million tons in April and another 1.3 million tons in May.

The trend of the monthly coal production showed an upward direction but whether or not the company would be able to meet the production target, it would rely on the handling of illegal coal miners in its concession area, Sonny said.

He also explained that the seizure of Arutmin's fuel ship by the local marine officials last week had caused a stoppage in the operational activities of its Senakin mining site for several days due to the lack of diesel oil stock.

"But the site has operated normally," Sonny said. He, however, did not say why the oil tanker was seized.(*)