Kideco hit by heavy rain

Heavy rain that hit part of East Kalimantan had caused production disruption at PT. Kideco Jaya Agung, one of the province?s top coal producers.

A Petromindo.Com source said heavy rain that hit the company?s mining area since Monday had caused significant production disruption as the flooding hampered hauling activities.

The source said if the condition continued until the next few days, the company might declare force majeure to its customers. The source said that right now the company still has coal in its stockpile.

Kideco sells 65 percent of its production to overseas market such as South Korea, Taiwan, Italy and UK, while domestically it supplies coal to Paiton Energy?s 2 x 615 MW power plant (1 MTPA), Jawa Power?s Paiton II 2x610 MW power plant (1.8 MTPA), both are located in East Java and to PLN?s 3400 MW Suralaya power plant in Banten province (2MTPA).

The company plans to produce 18 million tons of coal in 2005 and had been fully contracted throughout the year.

Heavy rain that hit some part of South and East Kalimantan in the last few weeks had caused flooding and affecting production of some coal mining firms.

Another mining companies such as Adaro Indonesia, KPC, Arutmin Indonesia said that so far, production was not affected by rain. ?So far, every thing is normal,? said Sonny Miarso, a KPC official, while Adaro?s Priyadi said that rain did not affect the company?s production volume. ?Until now, Arutmin?s production is running normal despite heavy rain,? said Arutmin?s Sonny Pangestu. (godang)