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Timah, Bukit Asam book solid Jan-Sept profits
Publicly listed tin mining company Timah and coal miner Bukit Asam reported solid profits in the first nine months of 2014 year thanks to surging commodity prices
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ublicly listed tin mining company Timah and coal miner Bukit Asam reported solid profits in the first nine months of 2014 year thanks to surging commodity prices.
Tin producer Timah revealed in the company's latest financial report that its net profit more than doubled to Rp 327.72 billion (US$26.87 million) between January and September this year, compared with Rp 141.02 billion recorded over the same period last year.
Company revenue increased some 21 percent to Rp 4.36 trillion during the period, up from Rp 3.61 trillion last year.
Tin ore outputs also rose 32.47 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) to reach 22,870 tons between January and September, while refined tin production also increased 15.62 percent on an annual basis.
Sales, however, climbed only slightly, by 2.87 percent y-o-y to 15,664 tons.
Timah had previously said that it would withhold sales until prices hit $23,000 per ton.
The company's average selling price (ASP) for the first nine months of 2014 stood at $22,668 per ton, a one percent rise from last year's average of $22,455.
In a statement, Timah said that the company's solid financial performance was aided by new government regulations, which declared 2014 'Indonesian Tin Resurrection Year'.
'Regulators have been more active and better informed about how strategic Indonesian tin output is for both industrial purposes and national deposits,' the statement said.
In August last year, the government stipulated that tin trade could only be traded in Indonesia in the Commodity and Derivative Exchange (ICDX). Further, the government aired plans to limit exports to just 45,000 tons a year in 2015 to curb illegal trade, which is expected to benefit the state-run miner.
Tin rose to a two-week high as Timah, Indonesia's biggest producer, said it planned to withhold supplies after prices in October slumped to a 15-month low, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
Earlier, on Oct. 16, tin prices on the London Metal Exchange dropped to $19,000 a metric ton, the lowest level since July 5, 2013. Bloomberg estimated this month that exports from Indonesia, the world's top producer, would most likely plunge this quarter to their lowest level in more than a year.
Meanwhile, coal miner Bukit Asam managed to boost sales by 18.96 percent y-o-y to Rp 9.65 trillion and net profit by 27.42 percent to Rp 1.58 trillion between January and September.
This stood in contrast to the company's first nine-month financial achievement a year ago, when its revenues dropped by 6.88 percent to Rp 8.12 trillion and net profit plunged even deeper, by 43.38 percent to Rp 1.28 trillion, spurred by dwindling commodity prices.
- Timah's net profit more than doubled to Rp 327.72 billion in the Jan-Sept period
- Tin ore output rose 32.47 percent to 22,870 tons year on year
- Bukit Asam's net profit rose 27.42 percent to Rp 1.58 trillion over same period
The price of coal suffered a steep decline due to oversupply and slumping demand from the world's biggest coal importer, China.
While coal prices having yet to show signs of picking up, with data from Indonesia's coal price reference (HBA) showing that prices have plunged by 15 percent in the first nine months of the year, Bukit Asam's ASP surged by 19 percent, according to a company statement.
Previously, the company said that a multi-branding strategy and a listing on the Jakarta Future Exchange (JFX) had helped push up prices for its premium products.
The company's coal output rose by 13 percent y-o-y to 12.48 million tons in the first nine months
of the year.
