Special Interview: Bumi sees increasing production as key challenge
Monday, August 20 2012 - 03:03 AM WIB
While many coal miners are struggling to cope with the impact of the current weak global demand, among others by cutting down production, Indonesia?s coal giant PT Bumi Resources Tbk is faced with the challenge of how to bolster production efficiently over the next few years as the company invests in new infrastructure facilities.
The Jakarta-listed company is seeking to increase production to 100 million tons by 2014 from 64 million tons last year.
Company Director and Corporate Secretary Dileep Srivastava said that the higher production target was made in line with the company?s huge investment being made to develop new infrastructure facilities at its mining sites.
?The operating performance of the company has been steadily improving. We have invested in infrastructure, we have invested in increasing our mining production, we have invested in equipment, and we have invested in all elements of the infrastructure supply chain, we have added more conveyors and the second heavy duty over land conveyor in KPC,? Srivastava told CoalAsia in a recent interview, referring to the company?s coal subsidiary PT Kaltim Prima Coal.
The second over-land conveyor facility has been built adjacent to the old one with a similar length of about 13.5 km, which links the company?s coal processing plant in Sangatta, East Kalimantan, to Tanjung Bara port.
Bumi plans to further expand the conveyor belt to a total length of 58 km by the end of next year, and to 80 or 90 km in 2017, to connect its mining sites with the barge terminal, and from there the coal is taken to the loading point for export, Srivastava explained.
He said that the company has allocated investment worth US$1.8 billion for infrastructure development between 2011 and 2014. Part of the new infrastructure facilities to be built by the company next year is a new coal-fired power plant.
On top of the infrastructure spending, the company?s expenditure for heavy duty excavating mining equipment in four years will be about $600 million worth of soft leasing term.
The expansion of the land conveyor would double the combined capacity of the facility in transporting coal to 64 million tons per year from the current 32 million tons per year, allowing the company to transport more coal to the barge terminal.
Read the complete report in August edition of CoalAsia Magazine
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak