Australia's Cokal to ship third met coal from BBM JV over Feb

Australia's Cokal will deliver a third cargo of metallurgical coal from its Bumi Barito Mineral (BBM) joint venture in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, in February, the company said Jan. 22.

"Cokal has completed two successful shipments of BBM metallurgical coal to China, including a pilot co-load shipment with PT Petrindo's group company MUTU (PT Multi Tambangjaya Utama)," it said.

PT Petrindo operates coal mining businesses supported by various subsidiaries across Kalimantan, and is Cokal's partner in a joint venture to develop coal infrastructure.

Also on Jan. 22, Cokal said PT Petrindo raised Rupiah 2.4 trillion ($148.19 million) in bank funding to develop its metallurgical coal mine in Central Kalimantan, including associated coal transport infrastructure.

On Feb. 28, 2024, PT Petrindo finalized its acquisition of MUTU, a thermal coal and bituminous metallurgical coal mining company located in Central Kalimantan. PT Petrindo owns the PT Daya Bumindo coal mine, which is situated adjacent to the BBM mine.

PT Daya Bumindo has metallurgical coal resources (measured, indicated, and inferred) totaling 226.1 million mt, with estimated and proven reserves amounting to 99.5 million mt.

The second shipment was conducted through International Commodity Trade Pte Ltd and a Japanese trading company. In December 2023, Cokal said it sold 23,000 mt of metallurgical coal to ICT, comprising 15,000 mt of PCI coal and 8,000 mt of coking coal.

The third metallurgical coal cargo will be delivered to a PT Petrindo company called PT Mareta Persada for the Indonesian market in early February.

Cokal said in November 2024 that it expects to have 700,000 mt of BBM salable coal in 2025 which it eventually plans to increase to 2 million mt/year in line with its designed production capacity.

BBM's mine is estimated to contain about 260 million mt of coal reserves. Cokal owns 60% of BBM while the Indonesian government holds the remaining 40%.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed premium low-vol (PLV) hard coking coal $1/mt lower on the day at $188/mt FOB Australia on Jan. 21. PLV CFR China was assessed down $1/mt at $189/mt.