Xstrata, Chugoku settle 2011 thermal coal CP talks at $130/mt - Platts

Saturday, 02 April 2011 00:00

Xstrata and Chugoku Electric have settled the fiscal year 2011 thermal coal contract price at around $130/mt, a source told Platts."We understand that a price has been settled and this is in line with what Japanese utilities are comfortable with, settling the contracts before the end of the current fiscal," the source told Platts. "The contract has been settled at about $130/mt."

Xstrata is also due to hold separate meetings with representatives of Kansai Electric, Chubu Electric and Kyushu Electric, a Japanese source said.
Xstrata negotiators were previously expected back at the negotiating table with Chugoku on March 31, having kicked off talks later in March than usual due to the earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan on March 11. Japan's fiscal year runs from April to March.

Chugoku has stood in as the lead FY 2011 Japanese negotiator following the natural disaster, which damaged major coal-fired power plants belonging to Tohoku Electric and other similar coal facilities jointly owned by Tohoku with Tokyo Electric (Tepco).
A Japanese source had told Platts that FY 2011 CP negotiations would "not take very long."

Xstrata had previously held off talks with Tohoku and Tepco, the two power utilities heavily affected by the March 11 disaster.
Market sources said Xstrata had met with power utilities in the western side of Japan, excluding Tohoku. No prices were offered by either Xstrata or the Japanese power utilities following talks held earlier this month.

Perusahaan Gas Negara Q4 net profit down 15 pct - Reuters

Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) , Indonesia's biggest gas distributor, said its fourth quarter net profit fell 15 percent, as a shortage gas supplies affected its earnings.

The firm's fourth quarter net profit was 1.55 trillion rupiah ($178 million) compared with 1.83 trillion rupiah in the same period a year earlier, Reuters calculations showed based on published full-year and nine month results.

PGN, which said that it revenues will remain flat this year due to limited fresh gas supplies, reported a flat full year 2010 net profit of 6.24 trillion rupiah.

That compared with analysts' forecasts for 2010 net profit to rise 6 percent to 6.58 trillion rupiah, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S estimates.
PGN shares rose 0.7 percent on Thursday after the results, but have fallen 13 percent this year. Its shares rose 13 percent in 2010, underperforming the 46 percent rally in the Jakarta index.