The same was also true with the domestic market that is the major buyer of PTBA's coal. The decline in electrical power consumption in major Indonesian regions, such as Jakarta, Banten, Java and Bali, also had an impact on the low domestic coal consuJakarta (ANTARA) - State-owned coal mining company PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) reported a net profit of Rp1.7 trillion in the 2020 third quarter (Q3) in spite of the declining global coal prices owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company booked Rp12.1 trillion in revenues, PTBA Corporate Secretary Apollonius Andwie C noted in a written statement released on Friday.
As of September 2020, the company's assets stood at Rp24.5 trillion, including cash and three-month deposits worth Rp6.1 trillion, or 25 percent of the total assets.
Until Q3 of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect the company's performance that resulted in a decline in energy consumption owing to lockdown policies in several coal importing countries, such as China and India, he stated.
"The same was also true with the domestic market that is the major buyer of PTBA's coal. The decline in electrical power consumption in major Indonesian regions, such as Jakarta, Banten, Java and Bali, also had an impact on the low domestic coal consumption," he remarked.
Coal prices that continued to fall in the three consecutive quarters also posed a challenge for the company, he pointed out.
According to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s data, the coal reference price declined by some 24 percent to US$49.32 per ton in September 2020, from US$65.93 per ton in January 2020.
The PTBA corporate secretary highlighted efficiency as one of the company's strategies to maintain and book positive performance amidst the price volatility and low demand.
"One of the strategies adopted by PTBA is to continue to lower the operating and production costs by applying a mine optimization design," he stated.
PTBA produced 19.4 million tons of coal until September 2020, constituting 77 percent of the targeted 25.1 million tons for this year.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi/Suharto
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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