Thiess eyeing coal railway projects

PT Thiess Contractors Indonesia is eyeing to take part in East Kalimantan and South Sumatra coal railway projects, the company?s senior executive said.

Executive director Thiess, Samel Rumende said that the company is interested in the development of 100 kilometers railway in East Kalimantan and 130-km railway in South Sumatra, but he did not give further details.

Based on Petromindo.Com data, there are some coal railway projects in Kalimantan, including coal railway linking Central Kalimantan to East Kalimantan but so far it is still under discussion, only one railway project has been in advance stage namely by MEC Coal, a subsidiary of the Trimex Group which plans to construct a 130-km railway in East Kalimantan.

MEC is expecting to start construction of the railway in the middle of 2012. The company has said that it has secured license from government to construct and operate the coal railway. The railway is designed to operate as integrated coal delivery system from mine to vessel.

In South Sumatra, there are a number of coal railway projects, including one by an Indian firm through its Indonesian subsidiary PT Adani Global which will develop a 270-km railway connecting Tanjung Enim to Tanjung Api-Api in South Sumatra. The company controls 97.5 percent stake in the project while South Sumatra provincial government owns the rest.

Another one by PT Bukit Asam Transpacific Railway (BATR), a consortium of state-owned coal miner PT Bukit Asam (Persero) with a share ownership of 10 percent, PT Transpacific Railway Infrastructure (80 Percent) and China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) (10 percent).

The BATR project will develop a 307-km railway from Tanjung Enim in South Sumatra to Tarahan, Lampung, which is worth US$ 1.8 billion. BATR is on track to start operation of coal railway in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra by middle of 2015, the firm has said. (giok)