Heavy rains cause drop in KPC production: Noke

Heavy downpours had been the factor behind the slight drop in production of East Kalimantan-based coal mining giant PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) in the second quarter of 2002, company president director Noke Kiroyan said on Monday.

?Two weeks of heavy rains caused a slight drop in our production,? Noke told reporters on a sidelines of a parliamentary hearing.

But Noke said he was optimistic his company?s production target of 17.2 million tons this year could be met.

The company announced earlier its coal production had reached 4.2 million tons in the second quarter of this year, slightly down from target.

A significant portion of the 4.2 million tons was exported to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

KPC, equally owned by world energy giants Rio Tinto and BP Plc, operates a huge coalmine in Sangatta in East Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan.

It is set to divest by end-July 51 percent of its shares to Indonesian state enterprises, private investors and East Kalimantan Province. (godang)