PT BA cannot meet coal demand from PT Semen Padang
Tuesday, February 20 2001 - 04:00 AM WIB
Coal supplies from state coal miner PT Tambang Batu Bara Bukit Asam (PTBA) to cement company PT Semen Padang in the West Sumatra capital of Padang do not meet all coal demand by the cement company, and this prompted the cement producer to buy coals from illegal miners in West Sumatra.
Semen Padang president Ikhdan Nizar said that his company needed some 2,000 tons of coal per day, but PT BA could only supply between 1,500 tons to 1,600 tons of coal per day.
"We finally resorted to buying coals from side street sellers (illegal miners) and also from other companies. But the amount is very small, accounting for only 10 percent to 15 percent of our coal demand," Ikhdan said.
He predicted that the company's coal demand would continue to increase in line with the company's plan to raise production. But he did not provide further details.
Meanwhile, Semen Padang spokesman Desri Ayunda used to say that the company plans to sell about 3.1 million tons of cement in the domestic market this year, up from 2.4 million tons last year.
Desri added that this year's domestic sales would account for 60 percent of the company's total sales.
He predicted that cement demand in domestic market would remain slow this year, accounting for about 50 percent of the country's combined cement production capacity.
Nevertheless, Desri said that Semen Padang would target more domestic markets, especially in Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan islands. (*)