PTBA optimist to meet 2001 production target

State owned coal Company PT Tambang Baru Bara Bukit Asam (PTBA) expresses its optimism that production target of 12 million tons could be reached in 2001, according to the company?s president R.A. Sunardi.

During the first half of this year, PTBA had produced almost 5 million tons of coal.

Last year, PTBA produced 10.7 million tons of coal.

Production was down during the first half of this year because some of the locomotives employed by state railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) could not be used to transport coal.

Sunardi said coal output in second half this year would increase after KAI had resumed normal operations and starting August this year would add more trains to transport coal from its coalmine in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra to Tarahan coal terminal in Lampung.

Sunardi also said that PTBA had offered cooperation proposal to KAI to add transportation capacity by adding more locomotives, which will be jointly financed by PTBA and KAI.

Sunardi said the scheme would enable PTBA to transport 17 million tons of coal per annum to coal ports in South Sumatra and Lampung.

However, he did not disclose further detail of the cooperation scheme and said the proposal was currently being studied by KAI. (alex)