Kangaroo To Complete Indonesian Coal Acquisition

Five More Coal Mines To Be Added To Portfolio

Australian mining company Kangaroo Resources is to acquire five Indonesian coal projects, after completing its due diligence. The company announced its plan to buy the projects late last year.

Drilling will soon commence at Kubah Indah, where the company’s exploration target is for 100-400 million tonnes of coking coal.

The company said this drilling program will be conducted in parallel with the ongoing ramp-up of production at its other Indonesian operations.

Prior to announcing these latest acquisitions Kangaroo already had two coal mines in Indonesia.

Managing Director Mark O’Keeffe said “The completion of due diligence was high on our list of priorities and, as expected, the projects were found to be technically and legally sound.”

“Kubah Indah in particular will become a very important project for us and, in combination with the Mamahak Project, will form the backbone of our coking coal production profile in the future."

“We will now move quickly towards the commencement of an initial exploration programme at Kubah Indah, and over the coming months we expect to be able to delineate a significant JORC resource,” added Mr O’Keeffe.

Kangaroo has issued 300 million shares to the projects’ vendors as consideration for the acquisition and these would be issued once its shareholders approve the deal.

Kangaroo recently announced an export sales contract with Chinese energy company, Yudean Farnon.

The contract involves three trial shipments of a total of 150,000 tonnes of coal over a two-month period. The deal will then be extended with pricing linked by a formula to the Chinese Coal Index.

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Essar Buys Indonesian Coal Mines

Local media reports from Indonesia suggest that Essar has acquired the Aries coal mines in Indonesia. The purchase will give Essar secured access to an additional 100 million tonnes of thermal coal resources and mineable reserves of 64 million tonnes.

Essar is currently building six power stations in India which will increase its power capacity from 1220Mw to 6100Mw by 2012.

The transaction is expected to be completed by April.

Victory Moly Encouraged By Mahala Results

Australia’s Victory Moly (ASX: VWM) has completed a detailed, three-dimensional, double-offset dipole-dipole Induced Polarisation (IP) geophysical survey over the Anomaly B prospect area at the company’s Malala Molybdenum Project, Sulawesi, Indonesia.
The IP survey was conducted by Khumsup Limited, an internationally recognised geophysical contracting company with specialised expertise in the acquisition of this style of IP data.
Perth-based Southern Geoscience Consultants (SGC) has undertaken data processing, modelling and interpretation.

The IP survey covered an area 3.2 km x 2.6 km centred on Anomaly B and was designed to identify the mineralised corridor believed to have the highest prospectivity for economic concentrations of molybdenum mineralisation.
Preliminary interpretation indicates the IP survey has defined the structurally-controlled contact zone between the Tinombo metasediments (highly chargeable) and the relatively less chargeable Malala Porphyry.

The total combined prospective length of these contact zones is now in excess of 4kms (the “Identified Contact Zone”) representing a significant increase to the Company’s existing target mineralisation area at Anomaly B.

Work to date at Anomaly B (exploration target of 105-115mt @ 660-900ppm over approximately 800m of the contact zone) is located within the north-eastern section of the Identified Contact Zone has demonstrated significant molybdenum mineralisation, which can be up to 250m true width.

Several historical drill holes have been completed within a corridor approximately 1km long on this contact at Anomaly B, with a number returning very significant mineralised intersections including; 234m @ 1,680ppm Mo (M12), 363m @ 600ppm Mo (M30) and 245m @ 1,200ppm Mo (M37).

The remaining part of the Identified Contact Zone (more than 3km), to the south-east and south-west, appears extremely similar to the north-eastern zone and remains largely untested by drilling providing significant demonstratable upside for the company to investigate.

The company said it is highly encouraged by this initial data and is on track to complete a comprehensive and detailed geological interpretation within the coming weeks.

During 2010, Victory West Moly has proposed to undertake a detailed drilling program to prove up the company’s initial Exploration Target, followed by an aggressive campaign designed to evaluate the remainder of the highly prospective contact zones with the objective of significantly increasing the company’s exploration target.

Shaanxi Facing Coal Shortage As Stockpiles Fall

The Chinese province of Shaanxi has been hit by what has been described as a "serious" coal shortage, with just one week’s worth of supplies to power the province’s 13 biggest utility power plants in January.

Official government figures released on Monday suggested that 1 million tons of thermal coal was stockpiled by utilities, a drop of 28 per cent over the December figure.

Local coal mines boosted output by 13% in January to help boost stockpiles but there is now concern about rationing in the region. It is thought that supplies will be imported from Indonesia and Australian to alleviate the situation.

China Imported 34 Per Cent More Nickel Ore In 2009

According to customs statistics released last week China imported 16.575 million tonnes of nickel ore in 2009, up by 34% YoY compared with 2008.


The main sources into China were: Philippines 8,783,000 tonnes, up 2.18 times from 2008 and Indonesia: 7,237,000 tonnes. New Caledonia was the third largest source of nickel ore for China in 2008 but China bought no nickel from New Caledonia in 2009 as its supplier, SMSP, is exporting its production to a new joint venture with POSCO of South Korea to produce ferronickel at a new refinery in South Korea.


The average unit prices for 2009 were Philippine ore: at USD 31.7 per tonne CIF and Indonesian ore: at USD 44.8 per tonne CIF. On the basis of these unit prices on material base, nickel contained in these two ores has been presumed to be 1.5% to 1.75% for Philippine ore and 1.7% to 2% for Indonesian ore.

Kangaroo Starts Production At Mamhak Coal Project

Australia coal producer Kangaroo Resources has commenced mining at the Mamahak coking coal project in Indonesia just six weeks after acquiring an 85% interest in the project.

Kangaroo was targeting initial production from the mine of up to 30 000 tonnes of coal per month.

“The speed with which we have been able to turn around Mamahak into an operational coal mine is testament to our Indonesian partners’ strengths and abilities, and the overall value perceived within this coking coal project,” said MD Mark O’Keeffe.

Kangaroo acquired the Mamahak project as part of a portfolio of Indonesian mining interests purchased from South Gobi Energy Resources in December 2009.

Mamahak includes a resource of 10.22-million tons of coking coal, an extensive infrastructure capable of supporting up to 1.5-million tons of coal production and a large 30 000 tonne coking coal stockpile ready for shipping.

BHP May Only Sell 25 Per Cent Of Indonesia Coal Mine

BHP Billiton Ltd. plans to sell only a 25 percent stake in a coal project in Indonesia as it wants to retain control of the asset, said Indra Diannanjaya, president director of the unit, PT Maruwai Coal.

The Maruwai coal mine in Indonesia’s part of Borneo island will start production at the end of 2010 and output is expected to reach 40 million metric tons in the next 10 to 15 years, Diannanjaya said.

“We only plan to sell a 25 percent stake because we want to stay as a majority stakeholder and as the operator,” Diannanjaya said in an interview in Jakarta today. The stake sale “will give an opportunity to domestic companies to become our strategic partner in the coal mine.”

BHP Billiton said Sept. 16 a number of groups were interested in buying the coal project in Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan province. PT Medco Energi Internasional, PT Adaro Energy, PT Aneka Tambang and PT Indika Energy are among companies interested in the project, Bambang Setiawan, a director general of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, said Sept. 15.

Investor Daily Indonesia reported on Jan. 7 BHP Billiton has selected PT Adaro Energy as a strategic partner to develop the coal project, citing a person it didn’t identify.

Source: Bloomberg

Indonesia’s Coal Output Rises 5 per cent

Indonesia, Asia’s largest coal exporter, produced 254 million tons of coal in 2009, a 5.8 percent increase from 2008 and well ahead of the government’s 230 million ton target, according to figures released by the Energy Ministry on Thursday.

About 78 percent of the coal was exported to buyers in Japan, China, India, Australia and Africa with the rest used domestically, said Bambang Gatot Ariyono, the Energy Ministry’s director of coal and minerals.

This year, Indonesia is forecast to produce 280 million tons of coal with 75 million tons allocated for domestic use, he said.

Bambang Setiawan, director general of coal, minerals and geothermal energy, said coal exports in 2009 were worth $14.85 billion.

Mining sector investment stood at $1.81 billion in 2009, a 9.5 percent increase from 2008. This year investment is forecast to jump to $2.5 billion.

The government also reported that production of other types of minerals increased in 2009: copper production rose 32 percent 864,676 tons; gold production leapt 64 percent to 105,404 kilograms; silver production was up 2.7 percent to 232,064 kg; tin output climbed 45.8 percent to 105,000 tons; bauxite production rose by 2 percent to 10.08 million metric tons; nickel ore output increased by 2 percent to 10.8 million tons; and ferronickel production increased by 1.9 percent to 17,917 metric tons.

Indonesia produced no diamonds in 2009 as the major diamond company, PT Galuh Cempaka, jointly-owned by Gem Diamonds and state-owned PT Aneka Tambang, halted operations due to the slump in diamond prices, Bambang Gatot said. “They also faced environmental issues,” he said, adding that Galuh Cempaka may not resume production this year.

Source: Jakarta Globe

JSW Looking At Coal Mines Abroad

Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group today said it is looking at buying coal mines abroad for feeding its growing steel and power businesses.

"We would be importing coal from Indonesia, South Africa and Australia and acquire coal mines in these countries over a period of time," JSW Group vice-chairman and managing director Sajjan Jindal told reporters here.

The group will import about 6.5 million tonnes (MT) of coal in this fiscal and about 10 MT in the next fiscal to part-meet the input requirement of its steel and power plants.

Of the planned imports, JSW Steel will ship in 4.5 MT in the current fiscal and about 5 MT next fiscal. JSW Energy will import 2 MT in FY'10 and 5 MT in the next financial year.

"Out of JSW Energy's 5 MT, 2 MT would come from Indonesia, another 2 MT from South Africa and one MT from Australia," he added.

JSW Steel needs coking coal to run over 6-MT plant in Karnataka while JSW Energy requires the dry fuel to feed the proposed over 3,000-MW power generation to become operational by the next fiscal.

Giving details about the company's strategy, JSW Group CFO Seshagiri Rao said: "Now we will also be more focused on the backward integration. We are in constant lookout for coal and coking coal resources overseas while remaining committed to volume growth in our businesses."

Source: Business Standard

NTPC Searching For More Indonesia Coal Blocks

India's state-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) today said it has identified three more coal blocks in Indonesia for acquisition.

"We have identified 2-3 more coal mines in Indonesia," NTPC Chairman and Managing Director R S Sharma told reporters here. It has appointed Macquarie as consultant for the same.

NTPC has already acquired a coal mine in Indonesia. During the current financial year, the total coal requirement of NTPC is 150 million tonnes, out of which the company would be importing 12.5 million tonnes.

Source: Business Standard

Antam Tambang Anoounces Increase In Nickel Output

Indonesia's state-owned miner PT Aneka Tambang Tbk forecast on Thursday its nickel output would jump 42 percent next year after restarting its third ferronickel smelter and on expectations of demand picking up.

Antam expects to produce 17,000 tonnes in 2010, up from 12,000 tonnes this year, Alwin Syah Loebis said.

"FeNi 3 has resumed operations. We also see that nickel demand is increasing. So we are production can be higher," Loebis said.

FeNi 3, its third ferronickel smelter, is expected to resume full operations in November after months of maintenance, he said.

The price of nickel MNI3, used in stainless steel, stood at $18,400 a tonne at 0702 GMT on Thursday, after gaining 57 percent so far this year. But the price is still about 64 percent below a record high of $51,800 a tonne hit in May 2007.

Antam also confirmed it was in talks with PT International Nickel Indonesia (INCO.JK) on the possibility of resuming its nickel supply agreement.

"Inco has exploration near our facility while we are also looking for nickel supplies nearby. We expect to conclude discussions in the near future," Loebis said without elaborating.

The agreement to supply nickel from PT Inco's Pomalaa mine in Sulawesi ended in August 2008.

Under the agreement, which started in February 2003, PT Inco which is 60.8 percent owned by Brazil's Vale Inco supplied about 1 million tonnes of nickel ore annually to Antam's ferronickel smelters.

If an agreement is reached, Antam may use the nickel to feed its ferronickel plant FeNi3 in Pomalaa.

Antam currently sources nickel ore from its mines in Halmahera, North Maluku, for the smelters.

Antam, which is 65 percent-owned by the Indonesian government, is involved in the exploration and production of nickel ore, bauxite and iron sands, smelting of ferro-nickel, and exploration, production and refining of gold and silver.

Source: Reuters

Bintangdelapan In Nickel JV With Chinese Steel Producer

Stainless steel producer Dingxin Group of China and nickel mining company PT. Bintangdelapan Mineral of Indonesia have agreed to form a joint venture company in Central Sulawesi to mine and process nickel.

The company, PT Sulawesi Mining Investment (SMI), will begin producing ferro nickel after next year, Bintangdelapan president director Halim Mina said Wednesday.

SMI will be 55 percent owned by Dingxin and 45 percent by Bintangdelapan.

"We won't be just a sleeping partner like many Indonesian firms in the mining sector," Halim said.

"We have received financing from them and we'll do the management of the nickel mining.

"I think this is the first time a local company is playing a bigger role in such a mining joint venture," he said.

SMI has a nickel mining con-cession covering 47,000 hectares of land in Morowali regency, Central Sulawesi province, and will produce 2.4 million tons of nickel ore next year.

"We've been producing nickel ore, but not yet to the targeted capacity *of 2.4 million tons per year*. Hopefully we can produce nickel ore to that capacity next year. And after one year of operation we'll also start processing the ore into ferro nickel," Halim said.

"We need to make some preparations to reach the target. Part of the preparations will be developing our infrastructure; our own power plant with a capacity of at least 100 MW. We don't know yet whether we'll build a coal-fired power plant or hydropower plant or something else," he said.

The joint venture firm will invest US$20 million in its initial stages to develop the nickel business, Halim added.

"We'll increase the investments in stages because we also need to establish a stainless steel plant within five years of operation, as required by the new government regulation on mining."

According to Bloomberg, the investment could eventually reach $1 billion, including for building a nickel processing plant with a capacity of 30,000 tons a month.

The Dingxin Group had extensive experience in stainless steel production in China, Halim said.

"So we'll make the stainless steel here, but export it to China," he said.

Nickel futures have gained 58 percent this year in London, recovering from a 56 percent drop, as the end of the global recession spurs demand for metals.

The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) said Wednesday that Indonesia's mining sector could expect investment of up to $6 billion in the 2010-2012 period.

Source: Jakarta Post

Newmont Suspension Will Not Hit Output

A suspension of operations at Newmont Mining Corp's Indonesian copper and gold mine due to a rockslide will not hit production this year given available stocks, a senior Indonesian mining official said on Wednesday.

Newmont said on Tuesday there had been a "geotechnical failure" on Sept. 18 and 19 in the west wall of the open-pit mine on Sumbawa island, which produces most of Newmont's copper, along with a small amount of gold.

"Newmont has reported to me about the mine suspension following the rock slide. We will send a team today to inspect the mining side," Bambang Setiawan, director general of mining, coal and geothermal at the energy and mines ministry, told Reuters.

"There will be no problem for production this year because Newmont has a lot of stock to be processed," he added.

Newmont's Indonesian affiliate, PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, continued to process lower-grade ore from stockpiles at the Batu Hijau mine, the Denver-based company said in a statement expanding on an earlier filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Batu Hijau uses an advanced monitoring system that measures movement in the pit walls, so no workers were in the pit at the time of the wall movement, Newmont said.

Initial assessments indicated nominal damage to infrastructure and equipment at the pit, which is located on the remote island of Sumbawa, about 950 miles (1,530 km) east of Jakarta.

For 2009, the company expects equity gold sales from the Indonesian mine of between 225,000 and 250,000 ounces, along with between 210 million and 230 million pounds of copper.

Source: Reuters

NTPC Appoints Macquarie For Indonesia Coal Mine Purchase

NTPC Ltd., Asia’s biggest power utility by value, has hired Macquarie Group Ltd. to evaluate a proposed coal mine purchase in Indonesia, the Indian company’s first overseas acquisition.

“We appointed Macquarie about 15 days back and they have already started due diligence,” Chairman R.S. Sharma said in an interview at his office in New Delhi. He didn’t give details.

Indian utilities are seeking thermal coal assets overseas to plug a local shortfall as the country almost doubles generation capacity in the five years to March 2012. State-owned monopoly producer Coal India Ltd. said last month it will invest $1.5 billion to acquire mines abroad to help overcome a shortage of an estimated 228 million metric tons a year by March 2012.

“NTPC faces coal shortages at some of its plants and having its own mine will help,” said Madanagopal Ramu, an analyst with Centrum Broking Private Ltd., who has a “sell” rating on the stock. “NTPC will be able to bid more aggressively for new projects after 2011 if it has overseas mines producing 10 million tons of coal.”

NTPC shares declined 0.3 percent to 205.5 rupees at 10.30 a.m. in Mumbai trading. The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index fell 0.1 percent.

Indonesia Exports

Indonesia, the world’s biggest exporter of power station coal, may produce 240 million tons of coal in the year ending December and export 60 percent of the output, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, the country’s Energy and Mineral Resources Minister, said on Sept. 7.

NTPC plans to import 12.5 million tons of coal in the year ending March, Sharma said. The utility may start coal production at its local mines this year and produce 15 million tons of coal a year by 2012.

The power generator will start a new coal-fired unit at its Dadri plant in north India by October end, Sharma said in the interview yesterday. The unit will supply power to New Delhi before next year’s Commonwealth Games and will operate at full capacity of 490 megawatts two months after starting up. Another similar-sized unit at Dadri will start by February, he said.

“Our expansion plans are on track,” Sharma said. “We expect the next unit at our Korba plant to start this fiscal year. All three units will start producing at full capacity by March.”

Installed Capacity

The three new units will have a combined output of 1,480 megawatts. NTPC plans to increase capacity by 10 percent in the year ending March, adding plants that would generate 3,300 megawatts of power.

India plans to add 78,700 megawatts of generation capacity in the five years to March 2012 and 100,000 megawatts in the following five years. The world’s second fastest-growing major economy faces peak-hour shortages of 12.6 percent this year, according to the Central Electricity Authority.

NTPC will invite bids next month for equipment for five projects that will generate a combined 7,260 megawatts of power, Sharma said.

The company’s installed capacity, including that of ventures, stood at 30,644 megawatts, according to its Web site. India’s total installed capacity was 151,073 megawatts as of July 31, according to the Central Electricity Authority. One megawatt is the energy used by 200 urban homes in India.

Source: Bloomberg

Indonesia's Paiton Announces Coal Contracts

PT Paiton Energy, an Indonesian independent power producer, has agreed to buy 3 million tonnes of coal from PT Adaro Energy Tbk and PT Kideco Jaya Agung at a recent tender, a source close to the deal said on Friday.

PT Paiton Energy runs Paiton I power plant in East Java, which has generating capacity of 1,230 megawatts (MW). It opened the tender in early August to seek coal for its Paiton 3 expansion project.

PT Adaro Energy will supply 2 million tonnes a year of coal of 5,000 kcal/kg gross as-received (GAR), at $57.5 a ton, FOB basis, the source said.

PT Kideco, in which PT Indika Energy Tbk has a 46 percent stake, will supply 1 million tonnes a year of coal of 4,900 kcal/kg GAR, at $55.20 per tonne, FOB, the source said.

Coal tenders by independent power projects must be approved by state electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), which is a monopoly power supplier in Indonesia and operates 25,000 MW of capacity.

"The deal is in the process of approval by PLN. The coal will be supplied in 2011," the source said.

The Paiton 3 expansion project is developing a 815 MW coal-fired power plant that is scheduled to start operating in early 2012.

The coal will be supplied for five years with up to three further terms of five years each at Paiton Energy's sole option, Paiton Energy said in its tender announcement.

Paiton Energy's expansion project will be part of the second phase of the government's crash programme to increase generating capacity in a bid to ease the country's chronic power shortages.

The government launched the first phase of the programme to add 10,000 MW generating capacity from 35 new coal-fired power plants, which are mostly still under construction.

Three new coal-fired power plants, with total generating capacity of 1,960 MW, are expected to start commercial operation later this year and the whole project is expected to be completed in 2011.

The government is still finalising the second phase of the crash programme which will add another 10,000 MW using coal, geothermal and renewable energy resources.

Source: Reuters

ICVL Looking To Buy Indonesian Coal Blocks

After losing bids to acquire coal mines in Mozambique and Australia, International Coal and Ventures Ltd, or ICVL, a company set up by five Indian state-owned firms, is in talks with the Indonesian government to buy coal blocks in that country, a senior official of the ministry of steel said last week.

These acquisitions will help ICVL meet an internal target of importing at least 5 million tonnes (mt) of coking coal by 2012-13, said Pramod Kumar Rastogi, secretary, ministry of steel. Coking coal is one of the two important inputs for steel making, the other being iron ore. India is self-reliant in iron ore but imports almost 70% of its 25-30 mt annual coking coal requirement.

A delegation from ICVL recently returned from Indonesia after preliminary discussions with the Indonesian government. It will be followed by another delegation. Rastogi did not provide more details about the potential deal.

ICVL—funded by Steel Authority of India Ltd, NMDC Ltd, Coal India Ltd (CIL), NTPC Ltd and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd—has been trying to acquire blocks in the US, New Zealand and Canada. While CIL was allocated two coal blocks at Motaize in Mozambique in March for thermal coal, used in power plants, ICVL has not yet had any success with coking coal.

Indian steel firms have big expansion plans to meet anticipated demand from the housing, consumer goods and infrastructure sectors. “Hence, it is critical to secure supplies of coking coal by owning captive coal blocks,” Rastogi said.

Arvind Mahajan, executive director at consulting firm KPMG India Pvt. Ltd, said it is critical that a company has access to regular coal supply, both coking and thermal coal, to help minimize price fluctuations. “Though most steel makers have long term supply contracts for raw materials, these are not long term in a real sense,” he said. Most of the contracts are not long enough to hedge steel makers against price fluctuations.

Private firms have been more successful at securing long-term supplies than public sector companies. For example, Tata Steel Ltd aims to ensure secured supply of 60% of its raw materials by 2015, up from 25% now, by strengthening its holdings in overseas mines. In July, Tata Steel Global Minerals Holdings Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Steel, bought additional shares in Australia-based Riversdale Mining Ltd through market purchases, increasing its holding to 19.38%. It is also evaluating several mines in Brazil and Australia. On 28 August, The Economic Times reported that JSW group is in advanced talks to acquire coal mines in Swaziland in Africa.

Rastogi said the current downturn in the global steel industry makes this a good time to secure supplies before prices of coal blocks firm up as demand revives.

Source: Livemint

Nanjing Steel Postpones Indonesia Plant

The Jakarta Post reports that Chinese steel maker Nanjing Iron and Steel Company is likely to postpone plans to build an iron factory on Kalimantan Island until the global economic crisis ends.

Mr I Gusti Putu Suryawirawan, the Industry Ministry’s director for the metal industry said "Nanjing Iron had previously opened a branch office here but then closed it down because of the crisis."

He said that “But it seems that they still want to invest here, while waiting for the crisis to be over. Despite that, we will keep prioritizing Nanjing Iron in our national steel investors’ list.”

Mr Putu said Nanjing planned to build the factory either in South Kalimantan, or Central Kalimantan, by partnering with local firm PT Semeru Surya Steel.

Source: Steel Guru/Jakarta Post

$65 Million Manganese Smelter Planned For Indonesia

Two regional governments in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province have signed an agreement with consortium Mangan JSK International Co. Ltd and PT AGB Mining, to establish a Rp 650 billion (US$65.5 million) manganese smelter.

An email statement from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said the NTT provincial government and the Kupang regency government had signed the agreement on Wednesday.

"The smelter will produce Ferro Manganese, Silicon Manganese and Ferro Nickel Chrome, among others," the statement said.

The products can be used for steel, batteries, ceramics and the production of chemicals. The plan will cover activities in surrounding regencies with a volume of about 1,000 tons a month, and a smelter construction with an installed capacity of 60,000 tons a year.

The Mangan consortium includes local and foreign companies: PT. AGB Mining, PT. Pusaka Pertambangan Mina, PT. Berkah Kencana Sakti, CV. Jasindo Utama and South Korea's J.S.K. International Co. Ltd

Source: Jakarta Post

Indonesia On Alert Over China Steel Exports

Trade minister Mari Elka Pangestu said the government would closely watch out for a possible shift in Chinese steel exports from the European Union to Indonesia after the EU imposed an anti-dumping import duty on Chinese products.

"We certainly are quite alert," she said after attending a plenary meeting of the House of Representatives in which President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono presented the 2010 draft state budget.

Mari Pangestu said imports of iron and steel had been tightly regulated and therefore it was hoped no illegal imports would happen threatenening local industries.

"It isn`t that we already have regulations for verifying steel and iron imports. So we have safeguarded it. Hopefully no illegal imports or dumping would occur," she said.

The European Union had announced the imposition of anti-dumping import duty for iron and steel products from China as of October 2009. The duty is set at between 17.7 percent to more than 30 percent.

Because of the high duty the Chinese exporters will have to pay for exports to the EU it is feared they would shift their exports to Indonesia as a potential market.

Indonesia meanwhile plans to impose a safeguard on imports of nail and wire soon. "The regulation of the finance minister still has yet to be issued. It is still with the finance ministry," she said.

Source: Antara

Mining Giants Submit Bids For PT Berau Coal

China's Huaneng Power and Indonesia's PT Indika Energy are among the companies that have submitted bids for a majority stake in Indonesian coal miner PT Berau Coal, according to sources, in a deal that could value Berau at more than $1 billion.

Thailand's top coal miner Banpu may also bid for the stake while mining giants Xstrata and Peabody Energy have previously expressed interest in the stake.

"We are just like the others, which have been approached by financial advisers and we are in the process of considering," Banpu chief executive Chanin Vongkusolkit told Reuters.

Sources said Berau -- Indonesia's fifth-largest coal miner -- has generated strong interest as it is rare for controlling stakes in Indonesian energy firms to be put on the market. The stake offers a steady supply of quality Indonesian thermal coal.

Berau, which has a 1,200 square km (460 sq mile) concession area in East Kalimantan province, produced 13.2 million tonnes of coal in 2008 and aims for production of 15 million tonnes this year.

Armadian Tritunggal -- an investment firm controlled by Indonesian businessman Rizal Risjad -- is selling its 51 percent controlling stake in Berau.

The sale is being run by Deutsche Bank, Bank of America's Merrill Lynch, and former Merrill banker Sheldon Trainor's PacBridge Capital Partners.

Armadian Tritunggal may elect to keep a portion of its controlling stake, a source had previously told Reuters.

"The asset will probably go to a strategic buyer either as a complete buy-out or a large minority stake," said a source familiar with the auction.

It was unclear whether Xstrata and Peabody Energy had submitted bids, which sources said were due a few weeks ago.

Berau is a joint venture between Tritunggal, Dutch firm dan Rognar Holding B.V. and Japanese firm Sojitz Corp, with Rognar and Sojitz owning 39 percent and 10 percent stakes.

The sale by Berau's biggest stakeholder could also trigger the sale of stakes by its minority shareholders. The total value of the company is expected to be worth more than $1 billion.

Berau is also being assessed for a possible initial public offering and the due diligence should be completed by the end of June, president director Bob Kamandanu told Reuters in May.

IPO plans will be included as part of any deal to sell the majority stake, sources said.

Further complicating the deal is an outstanding $300 million high-yield bond arranged by Merrill Lynch, sources have said.
Indika tapped Citigroup to advise on its bid, two of the sources said. Huaneng Power is being advised by Nomura, the sources said.

The sources declined to be named because they are not authorised to speak publicly about the auction.

Source: Reuters