Thailand's top coal miner, Banpu has said that it had cut its 2008 coal sales target to 18.5 mt from 20 mt after unseasonable rainfall in Indonesia hit output.
Banpu, Indonesia's fourth largest coal miner, with five mines there, expected sales of 20.5 mt next year, the company said in a statement.
Despite the production decrease, it remains hopeful of achieving a yearly revenue target of 50 billion baht thanks to an unexpected jump in average coal prices.
"Our average selling price this year is US$72/t compared to $41.05/t last year," Chanin Vongkusolkit, Banpu's chief executive officer, said.
The production reduction announcement came after Banpu reported an 81% year-on-year increase in net profit in the third quarter to 3.11 billion baht, from 1.72 billion last year, driven by higher coal prices and its consolidation of net income from its newly-acquired coal mines in China.
