Bumi in talks on coal SPA extension with overseas buyers

PT Bumi Resources is in talks on coal supply contract extension with overseas buyers while the world price of the commodity is showing an upward trend, according to company president director Ari Hudaya.

Bumi controls coal major producers East Kalimantan-based PT Kaltim Prima Coal and South Kalimantan-based PT Arutmin Indonesia.

?The buyers are from East Asia, Europe and South America and are mostly power companies,? Ari said told Petromindo.com on Wednesday.

He did not mention their names, and only said that "their calendar year starts in March and April".

"The price in the contract should be increased following an increase in the coal price in the market. We therefore will try to renegotiate the prices with the existing buyers," he said.

Meanwhile, Bumi's finance director Eddie J. Soebary said that most of the existing contracts were based on a price reference of abut US$25 per ton, far lower than the current price which has reached about US$40 per ton.

KPC and Arutmin produce a combined 34 million tons of coal a year, of which around 80 percent is for exports. (godang)