Churchill has completed the purchase of the land to be used as the site of the future port facility for the shipment of coal from the East Kutai coal project.
As announced in September 2010, Churchill received internal sign-off on the port site from the Department of Transportation, initiating the land acquisition process in cooperation with the local community and relevant Government departments. The location of the port facility is a key component for the direct access of exporting thermal coal to the international markets.
The port stockyard comprises of an area of just over 340 ha. and will have four stockpiles, each about 500 m length with a total storage capacity of 852,000 t. Transportation of coal from the port stockyard will be by a series of conveyors on to a jetty extending 1500m to deep water. The wharf facility at the end of the jetty will be equipped with two dedicated ship loaders capable of handling 30 million tpa of coal.
The wharf facility will handle shipping from handymax to capsize 210,000 DWT vessels.
According to Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy, Indonesia is well place to benefit for potential coal upgrading technologies, as low rank coal projects will achieve higher operating margins and increased market opportunities through an upgraded product. This means Indonesia will be competitive with bituminous coal producing countries, as well as increasing its commercial attractiveness for investors.
India’s Adani Group will help to build a coal export railway in Indonesia’s Southern Sumatra Province in another example of the country’s investment in natural resources abroad. Meanwhile, the Mongolian Government has rejected a direct rail link to China from the massive Tavan Tolgoi resource, citing the possible effect such a link would have on its sovereignty.