PTBA reschedules sales due to drop in production

State owned coal producer PT Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) has rescheduled its sales both for exports and domestic market due to the decline in the company?s coal production, Kompas reported in Jakarta on Friday.

PTBA?s president director Ismeth Harmaini said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the company?s production has declined by 900,000 tons so far this year due to transportation problem, and output is expected to further fall in the coming months.

In 2003, PTBA produced about 11.6 million tons coal. About 9.4 million tons of the total were sold to domestic buyers, and the remaining 2.2 million tons were exported. In 2004, the company would reduce the production to 9.3 million tons. About 5.5 million tons of the total would be sold to Suralaya power plant. In 2002, the company sold 6.6 million tons to the Suralaya plant.

Ismeth said that PTBA had reduced its coal exports by between 400,000 and 500,000 tons. ?We did not cancel but only rescheduled the export contracts. Some of the coal export commitment to companies in Malaysia, Japan and Spain would be fulfilled next year instead of this year,? he added.

PTBA, which is based in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra, has the capacity to produce about 22 million tons of coal a year. The company?s realized production, is however far lower than its capacity due to the transportation problem.

The company transports its coal through a railway to its coal terminal in Tarahan, Lampung before shipping the coal to both domestic and foreign buyers. The poor condition of the railway track, which is operated by the state owned railway operator PT KAI has impeded PTBA to meet its sales contracts. The railway is only able to transport 8.3 million tons of coal a year. (*)