Semirara to expand exports to Japan to reduce reliance on China market

Consunji-led integrated energy firm Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) on Thursday said it is eyeing to expand its exports to Japan as it aimed to reduce its dependency on the dwindling Chinese market.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SMPC said it will export 50,000 metric tons (MT) of coal to Shikoku Electric Power Corporation for its 700-megawatt coal fired ultra-supercritical power station this month.

“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 SMPC president and COO Maria Cristina Gotianun.

SMPC said that for the first three months of the year, its coal shipments to China dipped by 50% to 1.1 million MT from 2.2 million MT year-on-year.

China, however, accounts for 72% of the company’s total exports.

South Korea is its second biggest market at 300,000 MT, equivalent to 20% of its export sales.

The rest of the company’s exports went to Japan at 5% and Brunei at 3%.

SMPC said it first made a trial shipment to Japan in January 2023, selling 78,410 MT of mid-grade coal to J-Power —a utility company that operates coal, hydroelectric, wind and geothermal power.

“For 2023, we are targeting to export around 30% of our full-year sales target of 15 to 16 million MT,” said Gotianun.

For the January to March period, SMPC said its coal revenues sank by 40% to P15.5 billion from P25.7 billion to, “mainly due to high base effects of record production, shipments and selling prices.”

Its reported net income slumped by 51% to P7 billion from P14.2 billion year-on-year. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News