Labor strike continues at East Kalimantan's KPC

Protesting subcontractor workers of coal mining company PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) in Sangatta, East Kalimantan, are continuing their strikes, preventing the company to operate at full capacity.

"Thus far, here are no signs as to when the workers will end their strike," KPC's spokesman Bambang Susanto told Petromindo.Com on Thursday.

Bambang noted however KPC would not declare force majeure on its coal supplies to its buyers as it was still able to continue production despite the strike, which has been running for about two months.

The protesting employees of KPC's subcontractor PT Liebherr are demanding better pay.

At the peak of their strike several weeks ago, the workers seized KPC's shovels, forcing it to cut its output by 50 percent.

But some of the workers have agreed to end their strikes and returned the shovels to KPC, enabling the company to increase its output to 70 percent of its normal production.

Bambang said KPC produced an average of 35,000 tons of coal per day in March or about 1 million tons throughout the month.

According to the data at the ministry of energy and mineral resources, KPC produced 1.3 tons of coal in 1.3 million tons in January and 1 million tons in February.

KPC, Indonesia's second largest, which is equally owned Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto and Anglo-American energy giant Beyond Petroleum (BP) has targeted an annual coal output of 15 million tons this year. (Godang)