The Manila Times

Semirara looking to diversify market

ED PAOLO SALTING

SEMIRARA Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) is set to make a second trial shipment to Japan this month in a bid to reduce its dependence on the Chinese market.

The company said on Thursday that it planned to export around 50,000 metric tons (MT) of coal to Shikoku Electric Power Corp. for the latter’s 700-megawatt coal fired ultra-supercritical power facility.

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

“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,” Semirara Mining President and Chief

Operating Officer Maria Cristina Gotianun said.

From January to March, the firm’s coal shipments to China plunged by 50 percent from 2.2 million MT to 1.1 million MT.

South Korea, on the other hand, was a stable market with shipments reaching 300,000 MT. The rest of the exports went to Japan and Brunei.

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

In the first quarter of 2023, Semirara Mining’s revenues from coal dropped by 40 percent to P15.5 billion from P25.7 billion, attributed to the base effects.

Net income subsequently dropped by 51 percent to P7 billion from P14.2 billion.

Semirara’s share price went up by 20 centavos to P28.20 on Thursday.

Corporate News

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2023-06-02T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-02T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/281883007725381

The Manila Times