Singapore, 26 July (Argus) — Indonesian state-owned coal producer Bukit Asam's first-half profit fell by 43pc from a year earlier because of lower sales prices.
Profit fell to 908.1bn rupiah ($100.5mn) in the six months to end-June 2010 compared with Rp4.5 trillion for the same period in 2009. Sales slipped to Rp3.79 trillion from Rp4.5 trillion.
The miner, which produces coal of different grades from 5,800 kcal/kg to 7,000 kcal/kg on an ADB basis, blamed lower domestic and export prices and higher costs.
Its average domestic selling price was Rp601,106/t in the current first half compared with Rp751,623/t in the previous six-month period, while its export price fell to $61.15/t from $74.16/t. Its sales and marketing expenses rose to Rp330bn from Rp273.6bn, while exploration expenses increased to Rp10.5bn from Rp9.7bn.
Bukit Asam sold 6.44mn t of coal during the first half compared with 5.84mn t in the previous corresponding period. Of the total, 66pc went to the domestic sector and 34pc was exported. Its 10-year agreement with utility Indonesia Power from 2003 will see it supply 5.5mn t at Rp685,000/t for the 2010 calendar year. A deal with state-owned utility PLN supplies 9.86mn t to its PLTU Bukit Asam power plant from January 2004 to December 2013 with a selling price for 2010 at Rp430,000/t. It supplies 17.1mn t to PLN's Tarahan power plant from April 2007 to December 2031 at Rp570,000/t for this year.
Bukit Asam highlighted uncertainty over the country's new mining laws and their implementation. Holders of mining rights such as Bukit Asam under the new law have to convert them to mining business permits, and will have to deliver an activity plan for the whole area they are holding the existing rights for. It also highlighted the domestic market obligation with miners required to sell a portion of their output to domestic customers. The mining industry is waiting for further guidelines and instructions on these issues from the ministry of energy and mineral resources, Bukit Asam said.
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