PKN cuts again coal production target

By Thomas Sembiring

North Kalimantan coal mining firm PT Pesona Khatulistiwa Nusantara (PKN) said that production this year is likely to be only around 1.2-1.3 million tons, lower than the revised 1.5 million tons target.

The company, which operates coal concession in Bulungan Regency, initially set its coal production target for this year at 2 million tons, but revised it in recent months to 1.5 million tons after the first-semester output only reached 594,790 tons.

?Probably it will be around 1.2 million or 1.3 million tons until end of this year,? said President Director Jeffrey Mulyono to Petromindo.com on Monday, adding that the new target could only be achieved if the company could produce around 600,000 tons in the fourth quarter of the year as total production in the first nine-month period was only around 600,000 tons.

PKN had been forced to slow down production in the wake of the coal price drop of recent years as part of efficiency measures to cut down cost, but Jeffrey said that in the wake of the price recovery in recent months, the company could not immediately adjust upward its production volume.

PKN exports about 70 percent of its output to India, 20 percent to China and the remainder sold in the domestic market.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak