Local ship maker continues to rely on coal industry as main market

By Cepi Setiadi

Despite the current downturn in the global coal market which has seen the coal price benchmark plunging by more than 40 percent since the peak in 2011, sharply eroding the margins of miners, the domestic shipping industry still relies on the the coal industry as its main market.

Indonesia-based shipping vessel developer PT Karya Pacific Shipping, for instance, has set a target to develop a total of 150 units of barges, tug boats and cranes this year, down slightly from 152 units constructed last year.

Company Director Kahar Chua told Petromindo.com Wednesday that about 70 percent of the vessels built by the company are absorbed by the coal mining industry.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak