Marine logistics company PT Transcoal Pasific Tbk (TCPI) purchased new ships and paid operational expenses through its 2022 Capital expenses (Capex) worth IDR 300 billion. For next year, the company has allocated IDR 450 billion in Capex.
Established in 2007, the company offers ship rentals, seaborne transportation, and goods transportation services. It started its operations in 2018, after a contract with Arutmin Indonesia for coal transportation. It has since been providing services in ship transportation logistics, carrying various commodities, including coal. In 2022, the company’s shareholders consist of:
- PT Karya Permata Insani (55%)
- PT Sari Nusantara Gemilang (45%)
Currently, it has subsidiaries of:
- PT Energy Transporter Indonesia (28.82%)
- PT. Kanz Gemilang Utama and subsidiaries (99.92%)
Transcoal to produce new ships
Transcoal already allocated IDR 270 billion of its IDR 300 billion Capex to pay for its operational expenditure (Opex) on docking rights and acquired 3 new ships, namely 2 units of pusher rugs and 1 unit of pusher barge. By December 2022, there were 3 new ships from the original plan of 4.
By the end of 2022, the company had only realized 80% of its total targets. Meanwhile, the remaining targets that have yet to be realized would resume in 2023, including the procurement of new transport ships. The procurement of ships will solely decrease the dependency of the company on renting ships from the third parties.
“In 2023, we will improve the quality of service to our current customers and strive to increase the company’s customer base, including by taking steps to diversify cargo,” TCPI Corporate Secretary Anton Ramada said on December 20, 2022, as quoted by Kontan.co.id.
TCPI Director Bintang Septo Drestanto said in a virtual public expose on December 22, 2022, that the company has planned to add 10 sets of pusher tugs and pusher barges to its fleet in 2023. “This is one of our strategies to increase our contract acquisition next year by around 10%,” he said.
In 2022, the company saw its revenue increase by 11.27%, while its profit increased by 33.85% in Q3.
The Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry’s Mineral and Coal Director-General, Ridwan Djamaluddin, said in July 26, 2021, that Indonesia still had large coal reserves of 38.84 billion tons. Kalimantan holds most of the total reserves at 24.84 billion tons or 62.11%, followed by Sumatra at 12.96 billion tons or 37.70%.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 and the start of Russia-Ukraine War in early 2022, the trend in mining especially coal industry was bad. However, the logistics services and shipment became profitable as coal price reached its highest point at US$400 per Metric ton (Mt). In parallel to the increase in coal prices, the coal transportation services the shipping services also increased.
“Shipping and logistics will also enjoy the impact of rising coal prices because, of course, the activities will increase and require shipping and logistics services and the rates will of course also increase,” Bani Maulana Mulia, President Director of PT Samudera Indonesia Tbk, told Kontan.co.id.
The increasing prices also gives many potentials such as tariffs and negotiations become profitable.
“It will be easier to negotiate with customers to propose an increase in transportation rates because the customers already get quite a large profit,” said Director of PT Trans Power Marine Tbk, Rudy Sutiono.
Risks in coal transportation sector
Despite the rosy picture in coal mining revenue and profit, the coal industry was also hit by several problems.
The pandemic caused a dark page in the mining industry while the decrease in consumer purchasing power caused a decrease in the production level, which also caused a decrease in energy demand.
Several factories also went bankrupt and stopped operations, which caused a downward spike in coal production numbers.
