Semirara to deliver second trial coal shipment to Japan

By Othel V. Campos – June 1, 2023, 7:10 pm
from manilastandard.net

Semirara Mining and Power Corp. plans to deliver its second trial coal shipment to Japan this month, as it expands its market across Asia while reducing dependency on the Chinese market.

The company will export 50,000 metric tons of Semirara coal to Shikoku Electric Power Corp. to partly power its 700-megawatt coal fired ultra-supercritical power station.

“China is still our main foreign buyer but with their industrial output growing slower than expected, we want to develop other Asian markets like Japan,” said SMPC president and chief operating officer Maria Cristina Gotianun.

Semirara coal shipments to China declined by 50 percent in the first quarter to 1.1 million MT from 2.2 million MT.  These shipments accounted for 72 percent of the company’s exports.

South Korea was a steady market at 300,000 MT, representing one-fifth of export sales. The rest of the exports went to Japan and Brunei, accounting for 5 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

SMPC first made a trial shipment to Japan in January 2023, bringing over 78,410 MT of mid-grade coal to J-Power, a utility company that operates coal, hydroelectric, wind and geothermal power stations.

“For 2023, we are targeting to export around 30 percent of our full-year sales target of 15 to 16 million MT,” Gotianun said.

Standalone coal revenues sank by 40 percent in the first quarter from P25.7 billion to P15.5 billion due to high base effect of record production, shipments and selling prices.

Standalone reported net income dropped 51 percent from P14.2 billion to P7 billion on topline weakness and slower decline in cash costs.

Consolidated revenues contracted 29 percent in the first quarter to P20.7 billion from P29.1 billion a year ago on weaker coal contribution.  This was offset by all-time high revenues from the power segment.

SMPC is the largest coal producer in the Philippines.