Rig Tenders seeks Arutmin contract extension, eyes overseas expansion
Friday, September 26 2014 - 04:30 AM WIB
IDX-listed shipping firm PT Rig Tenders Tbk is currently in negotiation with coal miner PT Arutmin Indonesia to extend its coal transport contract which expired in June.
?We?re still in negotiation. We want to extend it for another two or three years,? said Director and Corporate Secretary, Mukhnizam bin Mahmud.
Rig Tenders?s previous coal transport contract with Arutmin has a capacity of 7.6 million tons per year. The company also has a contract to transport 8 million tons of coal per year produced by another giant coal producer PT Adaro Indonesia, Mukhnizam said Thursday.
He, however, said that going forward, Rig Tenders, which is 80.5 percent owned by a foreign company called Scomi Marine Services Pte Ltd, is seeking to expand its services overseas particularly Thailand and Malaysia amid limited capacity to expand at home following the introduction of cabotage policy by the government where domestic shipping must be carried out by domestic-flagged vessels, and the lingering downturn in the global coal market.
?Our future investment will be made outside Indonesia, or we?ll seek partner,? he said, adding that end of this year, the company plans to spend US$28 million to purchase a new vessel.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak