Govt plans coal purchase from China

The government is planning to purchase coal from China to supply the needs of power generators in the Java Island, the Media Indonesia daily reported Wednesday.

The paper quoted Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro as saying that the plan had been proposed to the Chinese government last week during a visit to Beijing.

Purnomo said that coal supply to the power generators in Java had been limited, while on the other hand coal from China had good quality and competitive price.

He was speaking to reporters following a meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri to report the recent visit of five top economics ministers to China. The visit was made to provide support to the state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina to win the contract to supply LNG to China?s Guangdong province.

Purnomo said that seven bidders have submitted their proposal, and that three bidders would be shortlist to enter the final round. The winner is expected to be announced in March, next year.

The Guangdong province plans to import around 3 million tons of LNG per year starting 2005.

Earlier, Pertamina president Baihaki Hakim said that the company was mulling to purchase 20 tankers from China with a capacity of between 3,000-5,000 deadweight tons as part of a counter trade deal to win the LNG contract.(*)