Indonesian coal miner Bumi Resources sees full-year 2018 production at about 90 million mt, mainly boosted by the ramp-up in higher grade coal output at one of its mining units, an executive at the company said Wednesday.
The miner had produced 83.7 million mt of coal in 2017.
Bumi Resources has a majority stake in major Indonesian coal producers Kaltim Prima Coal and Arutmin, which produce steam coal with heating values of 4,200-7,100 kcal/kg gross air dried.
On Wednesday, the company said it expects Arutmin to produce 5 million mt more of high grade 6,300 kcal/kg GAR coal this year.
Of the expected total production in 2018, KPC is expected to produce 60 million mt while Arutmin's output is seen at 30 million mt, including the higher grade coal production.
KPC had produced 57.9 million mt in 2017, while Arutmin's output stood at 25.8 million mt.
In May this year, the company said it expected to produce more higher calorific value material to take advantage of the high prices.
"Arutmin plans to produce between 6 million mt and 7 million mt of higher grade 6,300 kcal/kg GAR quality coal for export in fiscal year 2018, up from about 1 million mt in 2017," the company had said last month.
KPC sales have been about 5 million mt/month, while that at Arutmin has stood at 1.8 million mt/month, the executive said, adding that Arutmin's sales are expected to increase to 2.5 million mt in July on the back of the higher grade coal production.
Strong Chinese demand, coupled with unseasonal rains in Indonesia have continued to support coal prices this year.
The 90-day price of FOB Kalimantan 5,900 kcal/kg GAR had touched a high of $89.25/mt in February this year, before easing to be assessed Tuesday at $84.50/mt, S&P Global Platts data showed.
