KPC able to save production costs by $62.2 million a year

Indonesia's second largest coal producer PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) has managed to cut production costs by US$62.2 million a year thanks to the company's success to improve efficiency in all operating activities, Suara Karya reported on Friday.

The company's Manager for Public Affairs Drajat Panjawi said in a seminar held in Jakarta on Thursday that KPC's efficiency program carried through the so called Six Sigma program had been able to significantly reduce cost in almost all of the company's activities.

He said that the efficiency programs were not only conducted in production activities but also in the use of vehicles and equipment in the delivery of coal from the mining area as well as on all activities in supporting units.

With the efficiency program, the Sangatta, East Kalimantan-based company is able to achieve its revenue target despite the fall in prices of coal in the international market, he said.

KPC, which produces about 18 million tons of coal a year, books total revenues of about US$500 million from exports. "Up to now, the company has spent at least US$15 million for community development," he said. (*)