Indonesia’s Krakatau is in talks with Borneo Lumbung Energi and Marunda Graha Mineral to help feed coking coal demand that it sees at 2.65Mt/y by 2014.
It would be the first use of coking coal by Krakatau, which currently uses natural gas to produce steel.
Armed with $301M from a listing on the Jakarta stock exchange last month, it said it would consider taking equity stakes to secure the coal supply.
Krakatau expects to consume 2.65Mt of coking coal by 2014 to fuel steel mills for its projects in Cilegon, West Java, as well as its $6bn joint venture with South Korea’s Posco.
The company expects to produce 2.8Mt of steel next year, including 2.2Mt of hot-rolled coil, compared to an estimated 2Mt this year.