Thailand's PTT expands Indonesian coal mining investment

The four banks are Siam Commercial Bank and Krung Thai Bank, as joint lead arrangers, with Bangkok Bank and Standard Chartered Bank acting as co-lenders.

Chitrapong Kwangsuksathit, acting managing director of PTT International, a PTT subsidiary, said the loan amount would be used to increase SAR's coal production capacity to 11-12 million tons this year from 9 million tons in 2009. It is expected the capacity would rise to 20 million tons in the next five years. He said the coal output would be exported to Japan, Hong Kong, and China. It is estimated the group would earn revenue of around $500-600 million from the business.

The group's investment in the coal business is considered a channel to encourage sustainable development of alternative energy and a good opportunity to conserve the environment in the future. SAR produces and distributes coal in Indonesia. The Singapore-based company is listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange with PTT Asia Pacific Mining Pty Ltd (PTT APM) holding a major stake of 45.6 per cent.