KAI to transport 25-26m tons of coal this year

State-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) has set a target to increase coal transportation volume in South Sumatra this year to between 25 million and 26 million tons following the completion of 11 new stations, five which located in neighboring Lampung Province, Bisnis Indonesia daily reported on Tuesday. The paper did not provide comparative figure.

KAI President Director Ignasius Jonan said that his company will transport 22.7 million tons of coal produced by IDX-listed coal giant PT Bukit Asam Tbk, and the remainders to come from a few smaller coal miners in South Sumatra including PT Batubara Alam Utama and PT Batubara Multi Sugih Sentosa.

He added that the company has also signed a deal with cement maker PT Semen Baturaja Tbk to transport coal for the latter firm?s requirement.

He said that the target was to build 17 new stations in the rail route linking South Sumatra and Lampung, and the government was also planning to build a 238 km double-track railway. He said the company would complete the remaining stations, and hope that the government would also complete the double-trail railway project to further bolster coal transportation capacity. (*)