“The first production will start in the third quarter of 2013,” said Isnaputra Iskandar, a research analyst with PT Nomura Indonesia.
Australia-based titan BHP has mining operations worldwide encompassing aluminum, manganese and iron ore among other commodities. Adaro, led by magnate Garibaldi Tohrir, is Indonesia’s No. 2 coal miner and a regional leader in thermal coal. By the end of Q1 2013, Adaro produced 11.42 million mt of coal—a 4.2% increase year-on-year.
Indonesia is one of the world’s major thermal coal exporters, although coking coal miners have established footholds in the archipelago to meet iron and steel demands—in no small part for energy-starved India and a fast-industrializing China. Although Indonesia is enjoying some of the world’s biggest mining-driven economic expansions, a general slackening in global demand for coal has proved challenging for producers. Australia, meanwhile, remains the No. 1 coking coal exporter with 51% of global exports, according to World Coal Institute statistics.
