Kobe Steel, Japan's fourth-largest steel mill, plans to sell power generation coal from its Indonesian coal processing facility to power plants from May this year, according to media reports.
Yukio Akazawa, manager of Kobe Steel's coal and energy division, stated that Kobe Steel is currently negotiating with potential users, including a power company in Asia, regarding supplies from its Satu Yi coal processing plant in South Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. The plant in question processes low quality coal (lignite).
Japan's trade ministry and Kobe Steel opened the Indonesian coal processing plant in December 2008, at the cost of an investment of JPY 8 billion ($95 million).