Straits Asia reports 2009 coal output
Thursday, February 25 2010 - 01:47 AM WIB
Steady support from the Sebuku mine and prudent management of coal trading opportunities over and above the coal produced from both mines, in order to open new markets, all contributed to the record net profit.
Full year Coal sales revenue of $733m, increase of 28% - driven by increase in sales volumes and average selling price.
2009 average selling price Sebuku $84.32/t (2008 $82.61/t), Jembayan US$81.57/t (2008 63.48/t) - FOB basis.
2009 pricing reflected mix of contracts negotiated in 2008 (against prices at the time) and spot sales delivered and priced during 2009.
Coal
Jembayan?s record production and sales figures were achieved against the backdrop of a decisive recovery from the load-out problems that occurred in October 2009 and the effective implementation of practical supply-chain solutions.
As part of management?s response initiative to this situation, Straits Asia is working on ways to improve the total infrastructure capacity of the mine and deliver loading efficiencies and cost savings with the potential to handle higher production volumes. Sebuku?s production of 2 million tonnes in 2009 was in line with the Group?s expectations.
Unit costs averaged US$42.9 per tonne at Jembayan and $33.7 per tonne at Sebuku in FY09 Whilst both these numbers are higher than the FY08 figures, they were in line with Straits Asia?s targets and represent a positive achievement given the restricted production potential at Sebuku (pending the issue of the boundary approval) and also given the load-out incident at Jembayan that disrupted the last quarter of operations.
Straits Asia also purchased 931K tonnes of coal from third parties in 2009, taking advantage of favourable and unusual market conditions. This is, however, not an activity that the Group intends to actively pursue as a strategy in the future.
Other
Significant exploration work continued at Jembayan and Sebuku throughout 2009. Final analysis of the results of the programme is now underway and the Group expects to announce an updated, full JORC Resource and Reserve Statement in due course.
Outlook
Coal markets have gradually recovered from a generally weak period of demand growth influenced by cycles of de-stocking and re-stocking in 2009. Straits Asia has used the experience of the past year to lock in new contracts with reliable end users that will ensure that its targeted production increases over the next few years will have ready buyers.
The recent increase in coal prices will benefit the Group?s average selling prices for 2010 and, with its solid balance sheet and strong assets, the Group is looking confidently at 2010. (end of edited release)
Jembayan |
Q4 2009 |
Q4 2008 |
Full Year 2009 |
Full Year 2008 |
Coal mined (kt) |
2,209 | 1,333 | 7,019 | 5,015 |
Product coal (kt) |
1,684 | 1,316 | 6,466 | 5,055 |
| Coal Sales (kt) | 2,294 | 1,356 | 7,288 | 4,985 |
| Sebuku | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Coal mined (kt) |
590 | 900 | 2,364 | 4,225 |
Product coal (kt) |
525 | 720 | 1,983 | 3,531 |
| Coal sales (kt) | 561 | 745 | 1,922 | 3,607 |
| TOTAL | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Coal mined (kt) |
2,799 | 2,233 | 9,383 | 9,240 |
Product coal (kt) |
2,209 | 2,036 | 8,449 | 8,586 |
| Coal sales (kt) | 2,855 | 2,101 | 9,210 | 8,592 |