Indo Tambangraya to acquire Kalimantan coal mine

Indonesia's Indo Tambangraya Megah , a unit of Thai's Banpu , plans to buy a coal mine in Kalimantan with annual capacity of one million tonnes, the firm's CEO said on Monday. 

The country's no.3 coal miner expects to produce 25 million tonnes of coal this year, up from 22 million tonnes last year, said Somyot Ruchirawat. 

Rumchirawat said the company has been looking to expand output by mine acquisitions and expects one deal this year. 

"There are two or three potential coal miners that are targeted, but we will acquire a coal mine in Kalimantan with production capacity of 1 million tonnes a year," he said after a shareholders meeting in Jakarta. 

The firm's coal shipments to Japan are continuing after the recent devastating tsunami, as its buyers are located in areas of the country that have been unaffected, he added.

"There are a lot of orders and no cancellations so far," Ruchirawat said. 

Indonesia is the world's top exporter of thermal coal, and Japan is the largest buyer of Indonesian coal for power stations. The Indonesian Coal Mining Association has said damaged ports meant some Japan-bound coal has been redirected to China. Source: Reuters