PT Indo Tambangraya Megah Tbk (ITMG) targets total production volume this year to be in the range of 16.6 million tons to 17.0 million tons of coal. This target is relatively the same as last year's production achievement of 16.6 million tonnes. Throughout the first quarter of 2023, ITMG has produced 3.8 million tonnes of coal amid heavy rainfall at the start of the year. When compared to production in the first quarter of 2022, ITMG's coal production is relatively stable.
Yulius Gozali, Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations of ITMG believes the coal production target will be achieved. This is because, compared to last year's figures, this year's production volume growth target is not that high, namely less than 5%. In addition, on a seasonal basis, coal production in the first quarter of 2023 tends to be small. “In the future production will increase slowly. Most of the production will increase in the third and fourth quarters," said Yulius, Wednesday (18/5). From a sales perspective, ITMG is targeting a total sales volume of 21.5 million tons to 22.2 million tons. Of the sales volume target, 37% of the selling price has been set, 41% refers to the coal price index, while the remaining 22% has not been sold.
As of the first quarter of 2023, ITMG's total coal sales volume reached 4.5 million tons. This number is up 4.6% from sales in the same period last year of 4.3 million tons. Yulius is also optimistic that this target can be achieved. The sentiment of cutting China's coal production due to a mining accident in the Inner Mongolia region can have a positive impact on ITMG, although the impact is not that significant. Sectorally, Yulius agrees that there is no sign of a significant increase in coal demand. China, as the biggest consumer of coal, is still struggling with the Covid-19 case, so the open-close lockdown policy is still in effect.
“Second, there is the threat of a recession in the European continent and the United States (US). "With that, automatic requests are not maximized. This is why prices can't go up anymore," said Yulius. However, he sees the possibility that demand will increase in the third quarter of 2023. This is because a number of countries will restock ahead of winter to secure their energy needs. After all, the acquisition of the average selling price, aka the average selling price (ASP) of ITMG coal is still growing, although it is very thin. ASP realization during the first three months of 2023 was US$ 151 per ton or relatively equivalent to the same period last year, which was US$ 150 per ton. With an increase in average selling price coupled with an increase in selling volume, ITMG posted net sales of US$ 686 million or 7% higher than the same quarter in the previous year.
