Bumi to expand coal exports to China and India

Indonesia?s largest coal producer PT Bumi Resources Tbk plans to further expand the company?s coal export markets China and India to take the advantage of the sharp increase in the coal demand the two countries.

Bumi?s President Director Ari S. Hudaya said in Jakarta on Friday that the company had expressed their interests to buy coal from Bumi but no concrete deals had so far been made.

He said that the coal markets in the two countries were quite promising given the large amount of the coal consumption. At present China has a coal supply shortage of between 100 and 200 million tons while India, also one of the world?s largest coal users, has a coal supply shortage of about 65 million tons a year.

He said that Bumi had the capacity to export up to 10 million tons of coal to the country.

Meanwhile, the company?s director for operation Kenneth P. Farrel said that the company had applied for a mining permit in North Africa as part of the company?s overseas expansion plan.

The company has earlier received mining permits in Mauritania and Liberia.

Kenneth said he hoped the exploration activities in the two countries? mining sector could be begun next year. ?We hope production could be carried within four years from now,? he added. (*)