Source : Bisnis Indonesia & Investor Daily (06 Aug 2009)
PT Berau Coal was again awarded coal sales contracts from two companies in China for 700,000 tons. It came amidst the company's divestment plan of 90% shares of holding.
Concerning the sale, there are currently 7 potential investors conducting due diligence on Berau Coal. They are keen on purchasing up to 90% shares of Berau's holding, put up for sale by Rizal Risjad's, son of conglomerate in the Soeharto era Ibrahim Risjad.
The potential buyers are Huaneng Power International, the biggest state power producer in China, the Widjaja Group owned by Kentjana Widjaja through PT Quattro Inti Investama, PT Indika Energy Tbk, and Siam Cement Group of Thailand. Other interested bidders include PT Medco Energi Internasional, PT Indo Tambangraya Megah Tbk, and Recapital Advisors.
Berau Coal's President Director Bob Kamandanu stated that securing the short termed sales contract will help them reach the company’s sales target of 14.2 million tons this year.
"Basically, there are quite a few coal export contracts with Chinese buyers, however at not so large volumes. What is clear is that we have conducted supply since July. The contract could potentially be extended for a longer duration," he said yesterday.
Bob decline to elaborate on the 2 Chinese buyers as with the coal contract price. However one of the commodity buyers is reportedly Huaneng Power International.
He added that the export contracts with the two Chinese buyers indicated that Indonesian coal still interests overseas buyers, especially from China andIndia. "The purchase agreements will increase corporate revenue performance."
Berau targets revenue in 2009 at US$1 billion with before tax profit estimated at US$200 million. The company's production, which is 51% owned by PT Armadian Tritunggal, almost entirely controlled by Rizal through PT Risco, Rognar Holding B.V. owns 30% share, while Sojitz Corp owns 10%.
Export to Japan in the January-June period reached 8 million tons.
In terms of coal price, Bob Kamandanu considered the current US$50 per ton to be better than last year's average of US$49 per ton, which in turn boosted export volume.
He said coal production would be stepped up to 20-30 million tons in the next 5 years. The management was convinced that the exploration will not directly reduce mining potential.
In the first quarter of 2009 Berau was only able to produce three million tons; down from the usual 3.5 million tons.
Title : BHP Divesting Indonesian Assets
Source : Alfian/The Jakarta Post & Detikfinance (07 Aug 2009)
BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company, has officially told the government it would divest all of its assets in Indonesia, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Thursday.
“BHP has sent us a letter saying they will divest their assets in Indonesia,” Purnomo said.
“The divestment will be done on a case-by-case basis, between BHP and any interested parties,” he added.
Witoro Soelarno, secretary-general at the directorate general for minerals, coal and geothermal energy at the ministry, said BHP’s plan to pull out from Indonesia had nothing to do with the country’s policies in the sector.
“They told us this is ‘an internal business matter’,” Witoro said, without elaborating further.
Early June, BHP announced that, while it was evaluating the possibility of pulling out of Indonesia, it had decided to stop the development of the Haju trial mine, one of seven mines under the company’s Maruwai coal project in Central Kalimantan.
BHP said the Haju trial mine was not suitable with its long-term investment strategy.
BHP initially planned to spend US$100 million in capital investment for the development of the Haju mine. The company had expected the mine to begin its first production in mid-year 2009.
The Haju mine is one of the mines in BHP’s Maruwai project. Maruwai is the generic name given to a large, high quality metallurgical coal deposit in Central and East Kalimantan.
BHP’s Maruwai coal project consists of seven Coal Contract of Works (CCOW), locally known as PKP2B. The project has a total area of 330,000 hectares.
BHP also decided to cease activities in six other areas within the project.
In November last year, BHP decided to drop its $4.5 billion nickel laterite project in the Buli area of North Maluku.
Initially, BHP had planned to develop the area with state nickel company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam), the country’s second largest nickel producer.
The joint venture ownership was envisioned as a 50:50 partnership between Antam and BHP Billiton.
Title : NTT to Build Rp 650 Billion Smelter with consortium of 5 cos
Source : The Jakarta Post, Investor Daily & Bisnis Indonesia (08 Aug 2009)
Two regional governments in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province have signed an agreement with consortium Mangan JSK International Co. Ltd and PT AGB Mining, to establish a Rp 650 billion (US$65.5 million) manganese smelter.
An email statement from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said the NTT provincial government and the Kupang regency government had signed the agreement on Wednesday.
"The smelter will produce Ferro Manganese, Silicon Manganese and Ferro Nickel Chrome, among others," the statement said.
The products can be used for steel, batteries, ceramics and the production of chemicals. The plan will cover activities in surrounding regencies with a volume of about 1,000 tons a month, and a smelter construction with an installed capacity of 60,000 tons a year.
The Manganese consortium includes local and foreign companies: PT. AGB Mining, PT. Pusaka Pertambangan Mina, PT. Berkah Kencana Sakti, CV. Jasindo Utama and South Korea's J.S.K. International Co. Ltd.
- The Jakarta Post, Investor Daily & Bisnis Indonesia
