Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) is set to make its second trial coal shipment to Japan this month in a bid to reduce its dependence on the Chinese market.
The company said it will export 50,000 metric tons (MT) of Semirara coal to Shikoku Electric Power Corp. for its 700 megawatts 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 Maria Cristina Gotianun, SMPC president and chief operating officer, in a statement.
SMPC said in the first quarter, Semirara coal shipments to China dropped 50 percent from 2.2 million MT to 1.1 million MT, accounting for 72 percent of its exports. South Korea was a steady market at 300,000 MT, representing a fifth of export sales. Japan accounted for 5 percent and Brunei, 3 percent.
SMPC’s first trial shipment to Japan was made last January, selling 78,410 MT of mid-grade coal to J-Power, a utility company that operates coal, hydroelectric, wind and geothermal power stations.
Gotianun said for 2023, SMPC targets to export around 30 percent or as much as 4.8 million MT of its full-year sales target of 15 to 16 million MT.
