PTBA suffers losses from coal briquette business
Friday, October 16 2015 - 02:34 AM WIB
State-controlled coal giant PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) has yet to enjoy profit from its coal briquette production due to limited demand at home.
PTBA Commercial Director Muhammad Jamil said on Thursday the company?s coal briquette production currently stands at half of installed production capacity.
Production in Lampung currently stands at 10,000 tons per year, while in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra, at 6,000 tons per year, both half of the installed production capacity.
Jamil said that the company, which has been tasked by the government to produce coal briquette, has shut down its production facility in Gresik, East Java, due to local government regulation which bans briquette stockpiling.
Jamil said that the company has suffered losses totaling about Rp 20 billion from running the coal briquette business in the past 20 years.
Jamil said that is largest domestic market is currently the Greater Jakarta area. He said the company was looking to export the coal briquette to Malaysia and the Philippines to expand market, which would eventually increases production.
He said that the company would be able to enjoy profit margin if production reaches more than 20,000 tons per annum.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak