Semen Indonesia inaugurates coal unloading system

State-controlled cement giant PT Semen Indonesia inaugurated on Monday a coal unloading facility and open yard storage at Biringkasi Pangkep special port in South Sulawesi.

Semen Indonesia President Director Dwi Soetjipto said that the coal unloading facility was designed with a capacity of 1,000 tons per hour.

He said that the coal unloading facility was developed by Semen Indonesia subsidiary PT Semen Tonasa, with construction process started in the second quarter of 2010, and completed in the second quarter of this year.

He said that the company decided to develop the coal unloading facility due to the soaring coal requirement of PT Semen Tonasa in line with the operation of its fifth cement plant and a new power plant.

Dwi said that Sement Tonasa?s coal demand has doubled to 2.04 million tosn per year from 1 million tons.

The company previously used excavators to unload coal from vessels at the port, with capacity limited at only 1.4 million tons per year. (*)