Baramarta revises downward 2010 coal production

South Kalimantan coal miner PD Baramarta said on Wednesday its coal output reached 780,126 tons in July-September period of this year, an about 5 percent increase compared to the same period of last year.

?Coal sales volume in the third quarter is the same as production,? a company official told Petromindo.com.

The firm's production reached 618,859 tons in the previous quarter.

Accumulative coal production until end of September is 2.19 million tons. The company is now expecting only to produce a total of 3 million tons until the end of this year, down from earlier target of 3.5 million tons due to prolonged rains at its site, the official said.

The official said that Baramarta has started coal trial deliveries to state-owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara's (PLN) Paiton power plant in East Java. ?We have sent two barges with capacity 8,000 tons each. We expect to deliver ten barges during the trial shipment,? the official added.

Baramarta produces coal with CV content of around 6,500 Kcal/kg. The company sells its coal at its stockpile to traders PT Prima Multi Minerals and PT Prima Multi Trada under long-term contracts that are renewed annually. The traders sell the coal to Asia Pacific market. (denny)