Indonesia’s second biggest coal miner Adaro Energy aims to produce 53 million to 55 million tonnes of coal in 2012, up from 46 million to 48 million tonnes forecast for this year.

Mr Garibaldi Thohir president director of Adaro said that he expected the company to maintain an average selling price of USD 75 per tonne for the rest of the year, but was less certain about the price outlook in 2012 due to the weak economies of Europe and the United States.

He added that “I think we are still on target [for] 46 to 48 million tonnes this year. From the last performance, I am sure that we are on the right track to achieve our target. Our target for next year is 53 to 55 million tonnes.”

Mr Thohir added that the company, which has a market capitalization of around USD 7 billion, was able to sell whatever it produced because of growing demand for energy in Asia. I am still very bullish about energy, coal in particular, because coal is one of the cheapest sources of energy.

Mr Thohir said that Adaro’s biggest market is Indonesia to which the company supplies 24 percent to 27% of the coal it produces adding that Malaysia and China were also major buyers. The company is open to converting a USD 500 million loan to equity in Indonesian coal miner Bhakti Energi Persada.

(Sourced from Reuters)