Bukit Asam expands business in Myanmar

In a similar move to that of other state-owned enterprises, coal miner PT Bukit Asam (PTBA) is going north to seek business opportunities in Myanmar.

PTBA president director Milawarma confirmed the company had sent a letter to the Myanmar government regarding its interest in investing in the country.

According to Milawarma, the state company had disclosed at least three potential businesses in Myanmar, including coal mining, development of coal-fired power plants and supplying coal to the country.

“We may cooperate with local companies, as suggested by the government,” Milawarma said after PTBA’s annual general meeting on Tuesday.

Based on a document from Myanmar’s Ministry of Mines website, the Southeast Asian country has over 300 coal occurrences with estimated deposits reaching 480 million tons.

The Indonesian government is expecting Indonesian companies to increase investment in Myanmar, which is expected to be a place of massive development following political and economic reforms.

Although Indonesia has been dubbed as the largest nation in Southeast Asia, its investment in Myanmar has reached only US$241 million since 1988, according to figures from the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Besides PTBA, several other state-owned enterprises have announced their plans to open businesses in Myanmar, including lender Bank Negara Indonesia, electricity company PT PLN, oil and gas company PT Pertamina, tin miner PT Timah construction firm PT Wijaya Karya and cement producer PT Semen Indonesia.

PTBA is currently searching for new coal sales destinations to diversify its export market. As of now, China is the main consumer of Indonesia’s coals.

Since the first quarter, the company has seen increasing exports to Taiwan and Vietnam.

PTBA’s exports reached 2.4 million tons, or 54 percent of total sales of 4.51 million tons in the first quarter of the year. As much as 20 percent of its total exports was directed to Taiwan, according to corporate secretary Joko Pramono.

The company is expecting to sell up to 20.68 million tons of coals by year’s end, a 35 percent increase from 15.3 million tons a year earlier.

“We will continue to increase coal production and sales volume, and reduce the export of low calorie coal,” Milawarma said.

The company is planning to boost production capacity to 50 million tons in the next five years.

Coal miners in the country have been suffering from declining average selling prices following the weakening global economy in 2012.

The declining trend tainted PTBA’s financial performance in the first quarter of the year in which it experienced a 43 percent fall in net profits.

source: The Jakarta Post
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/04/26/bukit-asam-expands-business-myanmar.html