Berau Coal?s sales flat in Q2

Coal miner PT Berau Coal, which operates in East Kalimantan, recorded sales of 1.56 million tons in the second quarter of the year, roughly the same with the previous quarter sales of 1.54 million tons.

The company?s corporate secretary Ratmono Ratmansunu declined Friday to specify the company?s output for the second quarter of the year but he said the sales are about 90 percent of the output.

He however noted the second-quarter production was in line with the company ?s target.

The company has targeted an output of 6.5 million tons this year, which was a 45 percent jump from last year?s production, Ratmono told Petromindo.

Berau, which operates a 1,200 square kilometer-coal mine in Berau regency, East Kalimantan, expects to further increase its production to about 8 million tons in 2002.

Berau is 60 percent owned by United Tractors, a subsidiary of PT Astra International Tbk, 30 percent by PT Amadian Tritunggal and 10 percent by Japanese trading powerhouse Nissho Iwai.

It exports its products mainly to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and Korea. Domestically, Berau sells around 30 percent of its annual production to PT Java Power, which operates a giant power plant in Paiton, Probolinggo, East Java. (alex)