Semirara Mining H1 income reached P4.71 billion

Business Mirror
by Lenie Lectura - August 13, 2015

SEMIRARA Mining and Power Corp. on Thursday reported a net income of P4.71 billion at end-June this year, up 78 percent from the P2.65 billion it posted in the same period a year ago.

Of the amount, the power business contributed P3.26 billion and the remaining P1.45 billion came from the company’s coal business.

The operating power subsidiary, Sem-Calaca Power Corp., registered a record high generation of 2,165 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in the first semester of the year, up by 143 percent year-on-year (YoY) from 893 GWh last year. Coal production dropped 8 percent YoY to 4.46 million tons (MTs) from 4.87 MTs last year as some mining equipment were deployed to prepare future operating areas, while some were used to haul coal to the ship-loading area when the upgrading of the coal conveyor system was undertaken.

Semirara makes up 97 percent of coal production in the country.

The other day, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources lifted the suspension order meted out against Semirara.

The order, suspending the company’s environmental compliance certificate for its East Panian expansion project, was issued on July 21.

The lifting of the suspension order was issued “on the basis of its finding that there is no adverse effect or damage to the environment in relation to the landslide that occurred at the north edge of the Panian Mine and the same is due to a fortuitous event.”

The landslide at North Panian occurred on July 17. The incident left nine workers dead.

Semirara is the coal-mining arm of Consunji-led DMCI. A similar suspension order from the Department of Energy (DOE) is still in effect.

The DOE ordered the suspension of coal-export shipments to prioritize the requirements of domestic coal consumers. The suspension is in effect while the DOE probe is being conducted. source