Medco seeks long-term coal buyer

By Thomas Sembiring

Coal mining firm PT Medco Energi Mining Internasional (MEMI), a subsidiary of IDX-listed energy company PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk, said that obtaining long-term coal buyer is one of the pre-conditions for the company to resume production at its coal mine in Nunukan, North Kalimantan.

This was said by F. Hary Kristiono, Head of Business Development and Marketing of MEMI, to Petromindo.com on Tuesday. ?We stopped production (in Nunukan) because the buyers were gone,? he said.

Medco suspended production at the Nunukan coal mine late last year.

Hary said that another condition for the company to resume the Nunukan coal production is for the price of the commodity to stabilize at US$60-67 per ton.

He added that due to its high sulfur content, the company?s coal price is discounted by around $7 per ton off the Newcastle benchmark price. ?If the Newcastle price is now around $58, then our price is $51,? he said.

Hary said that the company in the past exported about 80 percent of the coal output to India, and the remaining 20 percent to Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak