PTBA revises down sales volume target

IDX-listed coal giant PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) has revised downward its coal sales volume target for this year to 23 million tons from the initial target of 29 million tons, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Wednesday.

The paper quoted PTBA Corporate Secretary Adib Ubaidillah as saying that the revision was made due to limited coal railway transportation capacity of state-owned rail firm PT Kereta Api Indonesia following delays in some projects. He did not provide further details including how it would affect production target.

PTBA earlier reported that sales volume in the first nine months period of this year increased by 5.5 percent to 15.14 million tons, year-on-year. The company said that the higher sales volume was partly resulted from higher capacity of railway transportation from the mines to the ports, which increased by 6 percent to 12.68 million tons, year-on-year.

PTBA has set production target of 25.75 million tons for this year, up 34 percent from last year?s 19.24 million tons. The company aims to increase production by about 25 percent next year as it seeks to capitalize on the rising trend in the price of the commodity. (*)