Berau Coal to increase export to India

East Kalimantan coal miner PT Berau Coal, a unit of PT Berau Coal Energy Tbk, plans to produce 23 million tonnes in 2012, a 15 percent increase from 20 million tonnes this year.

About 45 percent of the production will be shipped to China and India, said Eko B.F Natalina, the firm?s General Manager of Marketing.

?China and India will lead demand in the future. China was quite silent in the first quarter of this year, but they are coming back. I believe next year they will consume a significant amount of coal,? said Natalina, adding that the firm was on track to produce 30 million tonnes of coal by 2014.

Berau expects its coal shipments to China next year to be steady at between 5.5-6 million tonnes, he said.

Berau will ship 2.5-3 million tonnes of coal to India in 2012, rising from planned exports of 2 million tonnes this year, said Natalina, adding that the firm was negotiating with one or two new Indian buyers. (denny/fitri)