Thailand's PTT mulls investment in RI coal

Thailand's leading energy firm PTT Pcl is considering to invest in the Indonesian coal projects amid signs of recovery in the price of the commodity and huge demand potential in the region.

"We have seen regional demand for coal. It is still important for Thailand's power development plan which has coal-fired power plants," PTT Chairman Piyasvasti Amranand told a shareholders' meeting as quoted by reports Friday.

?Coal prices have bottomed out and are expected to be steady and eventually recover? he added.

Thailand, which uses natural gas for almost 70 percent of its power generation, wants to boost coal's portion to 30 percent from about 10 percent now, PTT Chief Executive Pailin Chuchottaworn said as reported by worldcoal.com.

PTT is considering listing its wholly owned foreign investment arm PTT Energy Resources Co (PTTER), which already has interests in Indonesian coal mining, on the Indonesia stock market to facilitate the development of its business there, CFO Wirat Uanarumit said.

"We have long planned to list PTTER on the Indonesian bourse but global coal prices continue to fall. Now we are studying the details and waiting for the right timing," Wirat said.(*)