Bumi Resources to build coal terminal in India

Indonesia’s major coal producer PT Bumi Resources plans to build a coal receiving terminal in India to better equip the company to take advantage of the country's rising coal demand, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

"Such a kind of terminal is quite needed to support our coal exports in the country," Bumi's president Ari S. Hudaya said, adding that with the construction of the terminal, the company would be better equipped to take the advantage of the continued increase in Indian coal imports.

India is projected to import six million tons of coals, this year. The country's coal imports are expected to rise sharply to between 10 million tons to 13 million tons in 2005. The projected sharp increase in the coal demand in Indonesia is in line with the country's plan to build several power projects within the next few years.

Bumi, which controls Indonesia’s two major coal companies PT Arutmin and PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), plans to export about 2 million tons of coal to India, this year.

Bumi, which exported a total of 31.2 million tons of coal last year, also sells the commodity to several other foreign countries including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Japan. (*)