Glow Group (“Glow”) posted consolidated total revenues of THB 25,836 million, Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization (“EBITDA”) of THB 5,743 million and Normalized Net Profit (“NNP”, net profit before unrealized foreign exchange gains and losses) of THB 2,669 million for the 9 months of 2009.
The 3rd quarter NNP of 2009 for Glow stood at THB 899 million. The key drivers for the result were strong industrial customers’ sales, whose power and steam consumption have returned back to normal levels since mid year, and favorable operating margins, where fuel prices have stabilized along with the electricity tariffs.
The 3rd quarter result is THB 274 million below the previous quarter, mainly because of two key reasons. First, unlike in the previous quarter, the 3rd quarter result does not include the business interruption compensation for the outage earlier this year of the 150 MW coal-fired Unit 1. The Company expects to receive the remaining business interruption claim of more than THB 100 million. Secondly, there was lower availability in the 3rd quarter due to a minor forced outage and a one-month major maintenance of the 150 MW coal-fired Unit 2, which was deferred from the previous quarter, the total effect was a reduction in profitability in the 3rd quarter by about 100 million baht. The 4th quarter plant availability is expected to return to normal as there is no other major maintenance scheduled until later 2011
Mr. Esa Heiskanen, the CEO of Glow Group commented: “The operation and performance of the Group have returned to normal and our industrial customer sales volumes have returned to expected levels. Our operating margin has also recovered to normal levels as the Ft remains high and fuel prices have stabilized .”
Mr. Esa continued to add “We are following up very closely on what the impact of the temporary suspension ruling has on our numerous customers in Map Ta Phut, Glow currently has all the necessary permits for our expansions, including the 115 MW coal-fired, 382 MW gas-fired, and 660 MW coal-fired IPP. Our expansions will utilize proven technology to ensure low emissions and will include reduction in emission from our existing plants, where the net result will be an improvement in the overall air quality in Map Ta Phut. We are confident that our projects are environmentally sound and will benefit surrounding communities as the total emission from our existing and new plants would be lower than current levels.
”Glow’s year-to-date interest expenses and corporate income tax have increased from same period last year. The effective tax rate has gradually been increasing year on year, as tax privileges for some of Glow’s older plants are starting to expire. However, the overall effective tax rate for the group will come down after the tax exemption period begins for the expansion projects after commercial operation starting in 2010.
Mr. Suthiwong Kongsiri, the CFO of Glow Group further explained: “The increased interest expenses is not due to higher funding costs but it is reflecting the higher debt level due especially to our strategy to pre-fund some of our funding needs at the beginning of the year, this strategy is aimed at mitigating liquidity risk which has resulted from troubles in global financial market. We now have the necessary funding through to the 2nd quarter of 2010 and are very confident in our ability to secure the remaining funds needed for our expansion projects, thanks to our solid business fundamentals, robust performance and improved market conditions.”
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Effort to cut emissions looks away from coal
As Congress debates legislation to slow global warming by limiting emissions, engineers are tinkering with ways to capture and store carbon dioxide, the leading heat-trapping gas.
But coal-fired power plants, commonly identified as the nation's biggest emissions villain, may not be the best focus.
Rather, engineers and policymakers say, it may be easier and less costly to capture the carbon dioxide at oil refineries, chemical plants, cement factories and ethanol plants, which emit a far purer stream of it than a coal smokestack does.
Carbon dioxide typically makes up only 10 percent to 12 percent of a coal plant's emissions, they note, and the gas is so mixed with pollutants that it is difficult to separate.
Cheaper strategies for sequestering carbon dioxide could prove especially important if Congress passes a law setting up a so-called cap-and-trade system.That would set a national ceiling for overall emissions and allot pollution allowances to utilities, manufacturers and other emitters, which could then trade them among themselves.
Companies that exceed their carbon dioxide emission allowances could buy credits from those that pollute less. Under such a system, a coal plant that had exceeded its allotment might pay a chemical plant that could separate a tonne of carbon dioxide more cheaply.
"If we have a cap-and-trade scheme,it will happen wherever it is the most cost-effective," said Jeffrey R. Holmstead,a lawyer and former assistant administrator for air and radiation at the Environmental Protection Agency.
A Texas company, Denbury Resources,is building a 515km pipeline for carbon dioxide that will run from Louisiana to Houston.
Initially the pipeline will take natural underground deposits of carbon dioxide in Mississippi to the aging oil fields of east Texas, where it can be used to force more oil to the surface.
But as the pipeline threads its way through more and more refineries and plants - the chemical heartland of the United States - man-made carbon dioxide captured at those sites could also be added and stored.
Sequestering a tonne of carbon dioxide from a chemical plant would have the same effect on the Earth's atmosphere as storing a tonne from a coal plant,scientists and industry executives emphasize.
"Sequestration is not a coal technology - it is a greenhouse gas abatement strategy," said S. Julio Friedmann, leader of the carbon management programme at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Last month, the Energy Department announced $44 million (1.4 billion baht)in grants to develop the technology,known generally as carbon capture.
Among them was $1.72 million (57 million baht) for Praxair, a chemical company based in Connecticut that operates two plants near Houston that make hydrogen for use in oil refineries.
The money will go toward developing engineering studies on how to capture carbon dioxide from the hydrogen production and deliver it to Denbury.
Carbon dioxide makes up 20 percent of the gas resulting from hydrogen production, twice the concentration found in a gas stream from a typical coal plant.Recovering it from this stream rather than a coal plant smokestack would therefore be cheaper and simpler.
In the oil industry, drillers have for years tapped underground reservoirs of carbon dioxide, brought it to the surface and moved it by pipeline to oil fields.Then they inject it into the fields to help force oil to the surface in a process called "enhanced oil recovery."
If the oil industry left the natural carbon dioxide where it was, and drew on carbon dioxide from industrial plants instead, far less man-made carbon dioxide would enter the atmosphere, experts say.
What oil drillers pay for carbon dioxide depends on the value of the oil it will help produce. When oil is at $70(2,300 baht) a barrel, carbon dioxide goes for $10(333 baht) or $11(366 baht) a tonne,said Tracy Evans, the chief executive of Denbury, the Texas company building the carbon dioxide pipeline.
Should the congressional legislation mandate a cap-and-trade system, that modest price could be very important."Wherever you can go to store a tonne of carbon the most cheaply, you will go," said Holmstead, the former EPA administrator for air.
Other likely sources of pure streams of carbon dioxide are plants that refine natural gas. The natural gas usually comes out of the ground mixed with carbon dioxide, which natural gas sellers routinely remove so the natural gas can be considered "pipeline quality". That carbon dioxide is sometimes reinjected into the ground, but sometimes vented.
Then there are cement kilns, which produce a nearly pure stream of carbon dioxide.
For now, no one is sure what it will cost to capture and sequester carbon dioxide from coal plants because the first such project in the nation, at American Electric Power's coal-fired plant in New Haven, West Virginia, got under way only last month. At the moment,the process consumes 30 percent of the coal plant's energy, but engineers are working to cut that in half.
Even so, experts expect the price to run to $60(2,000 baht) a tonne or more.But pure streams could be captured for the cost of drilling a natural gas well and compressing the gas into liquid form perhaps $10 to $15(500 baht) a tonne,Friedmann of the Livermore laboratory said.
Bruce Nilles, director of the National Coal Campaign at the Sierra Club, also cites natural gas plants as a promising avenue for carbon capture. Natural gas has only half as much carbon dioxide in it as coal does. So the equipment needed to separate and sequester the carbon dioxide at a gas plant would be half as big as the machinery at a coal plant of the same size, and would cost less.
Nilles and others say that biomass fuels, derived from wood, waste and alcohol, could offer an even better opportunity for carbon capture. If an electric plant burns wood chips or other plant material in place of coal, it produces a stream of smoke from which carbon dioxide can be taken and then injected deep into the earth.
The advantage is that if a tree is cut down and burned in a boiler, a new tree can grow in its place, and absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. That makes the process "carbon negative"; for each tonne burned, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will decline.
Eventually, Evans of Denbury said,most of the carbon sequestration will come from the power sector, because it is a far larger emitter than the chemical or refining sectors.
But for the moment, he said, for companies like his, which use carbon dioxide to drill for oil, there is something of a shortage. His company is still drilling for natural deposits of carbon dioxide,he said, and "we don't have any to sell to others".
But coal-fired power plants, commonly identified as the nation's biggest emissions villain, may not be the best focus.
Rather, engineers and policymakers say, it may be easier and less costly to capture the carbon dioxide at oil refineries, chemical plants, cement factories and ethanol plants, which emit a far purer stream of it than a coal smokestack does.
Carbon dioxide typically makes up only 10 percent to 12 percent of a coal plant's emissions, they note, and the gas is so mixed with pollutants that it is difficult to separate.
Cheaper strategies for sequestering carbon dioxide could prove especially important if Congress passes a law setting up a so-called cap-and-trade system.That would set a national ceiling for overall emissions and allot pollution allowances to utilities, manufacturers and other emitters, which could then trade them among themselves.
Companies that exceed their carbon dioxide emission allowances could buy credits from those that pollute less. Under such a system, a coal plant that had exceeded its allotment might pay a chemical plant that could separate a tonne of carbon dioxide more cheaply.
"If we have a cap-and-trade scheme,it will happen wherever it is the most cost-effective," said Jeffrey R. Holmstead,a lawyer and former assistant administrator for air and radiation at the Environmental Protection Agency.
A Texas company, Denbury Resources,is building a 515km pipeline for carbon dioxide that will run from Louisiana to Houston.
Initially the pipeline will take natural underground deposits of carbon dioxide in Mississippi to the aging oil fields of east Texas, where it can be used to force more oil to the surface.
But as the pipeline threads its way through more and more refineries and plants - the chemical heartland of the United States - man-made carbon dioxide captured at those sites could also be added and stored.
Sequestering a tonne of carbon dioxide from a chemical plant would have the same effect on the Earth's atmosphere as storing a tonne from a coal plant,scientists and industry executives emphasize.
"Sequestration is not a coal technology - it is a greenhouse gas abatement strategy," said S. Julio Friedmann, leader of the carbon management programme at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Last month, the Energy Department announced $44 million (1.4 billion baht)in grants to develop the technology,known generally as carbon capture.
Among them was $1.72 million (57 million baht) for Praxair, a chemical company based in Connecticut that operates two plants near Houston that make hydrogen for use in oil refineries.
The money will go toward developing engineering studies on how to capture carbon dioxide from the hydrogen production and deliver it to Denbury.
Carbon dioxide makes up 20 percent of the gas resulting from hydrogen production, twice the concentration found in a gas stream from a typical coal plant.Recovering it from this stream rather than a coal plant smokestack would therefore be cheaper and simpler.
In the oil industry, drillers have for years tapped underground reservoirs of carbon dioxide, brought it to the surface and moved it by pipeline to oil fields.Then they inject it into the fields to help force oil to the surface in a process called "enhanced oil recovery."
If the oil industry left the natural carbon dioxide where it was, and drew on carbon dioxide from industrial plants instead, far less man-made carbon dioxide would enter the atmosphere, experts say.
What oil drillers pay for carbon dioxide depends on the value of the oil it will help produce. When oil is at $70(2,300 baht) a barrel, carbon dioxide goes for $10(333 baht) or $11(366 baht) a tonne,said Tracy Evans, the chief executive of Denbury, the Texas company building the carbon dioxide pipeline.
Should the congressional legislation mandate a cap-and-trade system, that modest price could be very important."Wherever you can go to store a tonne of carbon the most cheaply, you will go," said Holmstead, the former EPA administrator for air.
Other likely sources of pure streams of carbon dioxide are plants that refine natural gas. The natural gas usually comes out of the ground mixed with carbon dioxide, which natural gas sellers routinely remove so the natural gas can be considered "pipeline quality". That carbon dioxide is sometimes reinjected into the ground, but sometimes vented.
Then there are cement kilns, which produce a nearly pure stream of carbon dioxide.
For now, no one is sure what it will cost to capture and sequester carbon dioxide from coal plants because the first such project in the nation, at American Electric Power's coal-fired plant in New Haven, West Virginia, got under way only last month. At the moment,the process consumes 30 percent of the coal plant's energy, but engineers are working to cut that in half.
Even so, experts expect the price to run to $60(2,000 baht) a tonne or more.But pure streams could be captured for the cost of drilling a natural gas well and compressing the gas into liquid form perhaps $10 to $15(500 baht) a tonne,Friedmann of the Livermore laboratory said.
Bruce Nilles, director of the National Coal Campaign at the Sierra Club, also cites natural gas plants as a promising avenue for carbon capture. Natural gas has only half as much carbon dioxide in it as coal does. So the equipment needed to separate and sequester the carbon dioxide at a gas plant would be half as big as the machinery at a coal plant of the same size, and would cost less.
Nilles and others say that biomass fuels, derived from wood, waste and alcohol, could offer an even better opportunity for carbon capture. If an electric plant burns wood chips or other plant material in place of coal, it produces a stream of smoke from which carbon dioxide can be taken and then injected deep into the earth.
The advantage is that if a tree is cut down and burned in a boiler, a new tree can grow in its place, and absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. That makes the process "carbon negative"; for each tonne burned, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will decline.
Eventually, Evans of Denbury said,most of the carbon sequestration will come from the power sector, because it is a far larger emitter than the chemical or refining sectors.
But for the moment, he said, for companies like his, which use carbon dioxide to drill for oil, there is something of a shortage. His company is still drilling for natural deposits of carbon dioxide,he said, and "we don't have any to sell to others".
Solar lanterns light the way
For more than 100 Indian villages cut off from the electricity grid, life no longer comes to an end after dark thanks to an innovative solar-powered lantern that offers hope to the nation's rural poor.
While cooking, farming and studying after sunset were once a struggle using inefficient kerosene or paraffin lamps, the solar lantern now provides a cheap and practical source of light.
The simple device, which is charged during the day from a communal rooftop solar panel,uses between five and seven watts of power and has a battery that lasts up to eight hours.
It also boasts a socket for charging mobile phones and a hand crank for topping up the power.
Villagers pay between 3 and 6 rupees (2 to 4 baht) a day to rent the lantern under the "Lighting a Billion Lives"(LaBL) scheme, which was launched last year to promote solar energy as the environmentally friendly answer to India's energy shortages.
"I keep my shop open as late as 9pm. All my fish get sold by that time," a fish seller in Govindorampur district in West Bengal state who uses the lamp told researchers.
He is one of those whose lives have been transformed by the first wave of 5,000 lanterns distributed across nine states in India.
The LaBL scheme, run by The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri) in New Delhi, plans to eventually put 200 million lamps into use.
Organisers say each lamp should work for 10 years, saving between 500 and 600 litres of kerosene which would produce about 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Government figures show more than 10,000 impoverished Indian villages have no access to grid electricity, but the solar revolution could also change middle-class lives in urban India,where energy demands have soared.
Power cuts are common even in the smarter suburbs of New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata as residents soak up fragile supplies with airconditioning units, freezers and washing machines.
While per capita electricity use in India -704 kilowatt hours in 2007-2008- is far lower than the 8,000 kilowatt hours per capita in many industrialised countries, there is no sign of consumption slowing.
"There is something like 30 percent overdemand. There's significant undergeneration as it is, even if you don't electrify any more," said Joel Slonetsky, a researcher with LaBL.
One "green" solution to the outages is a solar-charged inverter for backup electricity during cuts.
"People have started realising the scarcity of power," said Chandra Sekhar, CEO of Solar India Solutions, which sells the inverters in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh."They have become scared so they don't mind spending a little extra."
Sekhar said most of his clients belong to the "domestic middle-income group" and they choose to shell out between $3,000 to $6,000 for the solar inverters that work as well as traditional ones.
"Right now the technology is at a stage where we can say that it stands side by side with conventional electricity," said Ajay Prakash Shrivastava, president of the Solar Energy Society of India.
Increased efficiency and new materials mean the price of solar-powered equipment has been coming down for years, although initial installation costs are steep, said Shrivastava.
While the long-term benefits may be an incentive for some, he acknowledged that most people who have opted to use solar energy have done so out of necessity rather than a desire to be environmentally friendly.
"There are certainly people thinking in that direction," said Shrivastava."But that group is not very large."
Slonetsky said although the Indian solar industry is constantly evolving, the options for domestic solar power use are still somewhat limited.
"It may just be a lag both in terms of consumer awareness and supply here." he said.
It is certainly not for lack of sunshine India receives a high level of solar radiation,equivalent to more than 5,000 trillion kilowatts or up to 3,200 hours of sun a year, according to government statistics.
The government hopes to harness this potential into 20,000 megawatts of solar power by 2020 as part of its National Solar Mission to promote renewable energy.
The plan envisions railway signals and water pumps eventually running on solar technology,but for now, villagers are content with the portable lamps that have made daily tasks such as cooking and cleaning easier.
"The lanterns have changed our position in society," said Ayesha Begum from Sahsoul village in the eastern state of Bihar.
While cooking, farming and studying after sunset were once a struggle using inefficient kerosene or paraffin lamps, the solar lantern now provides a cheap and practical source of light.
The simple device, which is charged during the day from a communal rooftop solar panel,uses between five and seven watts of power and has a battery that lasts up to eight hours.
It also boasts a socket for charging mobile phones and a hand crank for topping up the power.
Villagers pay between 3 and 6 rupees (2 to 4 baht) a day to rent the lantern under the "Lighting a Billion Lives"(LaBL) scheme, which was launched last year to promote solar energy as the environmentally friendly answer to India's energy shortages.
"I keep my shop open as late as 9pm. All my fish get sold by that time," a fish seller in Govindorampur district in West Bengal state who uses the lamp told researchers.
He is one of those whose lives have been transformed by the first wave of 5,000 lanterns distributed across nine states in India.
The LaBL scheme, run by The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri) in New Delhi, plans to eventually put 200 million lamps into use.
Organisers say each lamp should work for 10 years, saving between 500 and 600 litres of kerosene which would produce about 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Government figures show more than 10,000 impoverished Indian villages have no access to grid electricity, but the solar revolution could also change middle-class lives in urban India,where energy demands have soared.
Power cuts are common even in the smarter suburbs of New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata as residents soak up fragile supplies with airconditioning units, freezers and washing machines.
While per capita electricity use in India -704 kilowatt hours in 2007-2008- is far lower than the 8,000 kilowatt hours per capita in many industrialised countries, there is no sign of consumption slowing.
"There is something like 30 percent overdemand. There's significant undergeneration as it is, even if you don't electrify any more," said Joel Slonetsky, a researcher with LaBL.
One "green" solution to the outages is a solar-charged inverter for backup electricity during cuts.
"People have started realising the scarcity of power," said Chandra Sekhar, CEO of Solar India Solutions, which sells the inverters in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh."They have become scared so they don't mind spending a little extra."
Sekhar said most of his clients belong to the "domestic middle-income group" and they choose to shell out between $3,000 to $6,000 for the solar inverters that work as well as traditional ones.
"Right now the technology is at a stage where we can say that it stands side by side with conventional electricity," said Ajay Prakash Shrivastava, president of the Solar Energy Society of India.
Increased efficiency and new materials mean the price of solar-powered equipment has been coming down for years, although initial installation costs are steep, said Shrivastava.
While the long-term benefits may be an incentive for some, he acknowledged that most people who have opted to use solar energy have done so out of necessity rather than a desire to be environmentally friendly.
"There are certainly people thinking in that direction," said Shrivastava."But that group is not very large."
Slonetsky said although the Indian solar industry is constantly evolving, the options for domestic solar power use are still somewhat limited.
"It may just be a lag both in terms of consumer awareness and supply here." he said.
It is certainly not for lack of sunshine India receives a high level of solar radiation,equivalent to more than 5,000 trillion kilowatts or up to 3,200 hours of sun a year, according to government statistics.
The government hopes to harness this potential into 20,000 megawatts of solar power by 2020 as part of its National Solar Mission to promote renewable energy.
The plan envisions railway signals and water pumps eventually running on solar technology,but for now, villagers are content with the portable lamps that have made daily tasks such as cooking and cleaning easier.
"The lanterns have changed our position in society," said Ayesha Begum from Sahsoul village in the eastern state of Bihar.
Banpu profit rises 22%
The coal miner Banpu Plc reported thirdquarter profits of 3.8 billion baht, an increase of 22% from the same period last year.
Consolidated nine-month net profit jumped 68% from the same period last year to 12.58 billion baht.
In a statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, the company said its thirdquarter revenues fell 3% year-on-year to 13.9 billion baht, due primarily to lower coal prices. Coal sales totalled 12.8 billion baht, down 4% year-on-year and representing 92% of total revenue.
Coal sales volume in the quarter was 5.31 million tonnes, up 15% year-onyear and up 18% from the previous quarter thanks to increased production at its Indonesian mines. Average selling prices for the quarter were $69.49 per tonne, a decline of 17% year-on-year and 6%quarter-on-quarter due to lower market prices and quality of coal.
Quarterly profits included a gain of 1.03 billion baht from financial derivatives on coal swaps and 109 million from oil hedging and interest-rate swaps.
Total reserves at the end of September were 581.37 million tonnes, compared with 588.1 million at the end of June.
Shares of Banpu closed yesterday on the SET at 448 baht, down two baht.
Consolidated nine-month net profit jumped 68% from the same period last year to 12.58 billion baht.
In a statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, the company said its thirdquarter revenues fell 3% year-on-year to 13.9 billion baht, due primarily to lower coal prices. Coal sales totalled 12.8 billion baht, down 4% year-on-year and representing 92% of total revenue.
Coal sales volume in the quarter was 5.31 million tonnes, up 15% year-onyear and up 18% from the previous quarter thanks to increased production at its Indonesian mines. Average selling prices for the quarter were $69.49 per tonne, a decline of 17% year-on-year and 6%quarter-on-quarter due to lower market prices and quality of coal.
Quarterly profits included a gain of 1.03 billion baht from financial derivatives on coal swaps and 109 million from oil hedging and interest-rate swaps.
Total reserves at the end of September were 581.37 million tonnes, compared with 588.1 million at the end of June.
Shares of Banpu closed yesterday on the SET at 448 baht, down two baht.
UMS targets 30% growth in 2010
Coal importer Unique Mining Services Plc is optimistic its sales will jump by 30% in 2010 from flat growth this year thanks to the economic recovery.
UMS managing director Chaiwat Cruecha-Em said an improved recovery will drive demand and coal prices, boosting the company's overall revenue.
"Last year, coal prices went up to nearly US$140(per tonne), but this year it has dropped to about $70," Mr Chaiwat said."Next year, the government's stimulus programmes should start to take effects and help spur demand.
UMS will unlikely hit its growth target this year as the recession has crimped output for its major customers, particularly those in the cement sector, he said.
Small and medium-sized companies,the main revenue source for UMS, are still expanding, he said, which will keep 2009 coal volume on par with last year at about one million tonnes.
Mr Chaiwat said UMS was not affected by the Map Ta Phut suspensions as it has few clients there.
UMS projected 2009 first-half revenue would fall by 10% from last year to 3.14 billion baht.
UMS has recently been acquired by Hermelin Shipping Co, a subsidiary of Thoresen Thai Agencies Plc, the country's largest dry-bulk carrier. Hermelin, which will be renamed Athene Holdings Ltd,purchased 73,649,166 shares or 48.46%from UMS's two former major shareholders Phaibul Chalermsaphayakorn and Mr Chaiwat.
"The acquisition should set a business direction for UMS regarding logistics in the coal industry," Mr Chaiwat said.
The firm is still interested in acquiring a coal mine in Indonesia, but the matter must be discussed with the new shareholder before any decision, he said.
UMS posted first-half revenue of 1.39 billion baht, down from 1.56 billion the same period last year. First-half net profit fell to 191.49 million baht, down from 240 million year-on-year.
Established in 1994, UMS engages in the coal trading business by importing coal from Indonesia to serve small and medium-sized industrial buyers in Thailand. UMS shares closed yesterday on the Market for Alternative Investment at 22.70 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 43.81 million baht.
UMS managing director Chaiwat Cruecha-Em said an improved recovery will drive demand and coal prices, boosting the company's overall revenue.
"Last year, coal prices went up to nearly US$140(per tonne), but this year it has dropped to about $70," Mr Chaiwat said."Next year, the government's stimulus programmes should start to take effects and help spur demand.
UMS will unlikely hit its growth target this year as the recession has crimped output for its major customers, particularly those in the cement sector, he said.
Small and medium-sized companies,the main revenue source for UMS, are still expanding, he said, which will keep 2009 coal volume on par with last year at about one million tonnes.
Mr Chaiwat said UMS was not affected by the Map Ta Phut suspensions as it has few clients there.
UMS projected 2009 first-half revenue would fall by 10% from last year to 3.14 billion baht.
UMS has recently been acquired by Hermelin Shipping Co, a subsidiary of Thoresen Thai Agencies Plc, the country's largest dry-bulk carrier. Hermelin, which will be renamed Athene Holdings Ltd,purchased 73,649,166 shares or 48.46%from UMS's two former major shareholders Phaibul Chalermsaphayakorn and Mr Chaiwat.
"The acquisition should set a business direction for UMS regarding logistics in the coal industry," Mr Chaiwat said.
The firm is still interested in acquiring a coal mine in Indonesia, but the matter must be discussed with the new shareholder before any decision, he said.
UMS posted first-half revenue of 1.39 billion baht, down from 1.56 billion the same period last year. First-half net profit fell to 191.49 million baht, down from 240 million year-on-year.
Established in 1994, UMS engages in the coal trading business by importing coal from Indonesia to serve small and medium-sized industrial buyers in Thailand. UMS shares closed yesterday on the Market for Alternative Investment at 22.70 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 43.81 million baht.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
MINISTRY SEEKS OPTIONS AS GAS RESERVES SHRINK
Energy Minister Wannarat Charnnukul headed a delegation to Hong Kong and Shenzhen to review possible tie-ups in clean coal and nuclear power firms "to obtain the best options for our future energy needs" at the weekend.
"Thailand will face a shortage of natural gas in 15-20 years as local fields are being exhausted. This poses great concern as the country depends on gas to generate 70 per cent of electricity needs."
Wannarata says coal-fired plants provide 20 per cent while hydro, biogas, bomas and solar sources make up the rest. "Even with the push toward solar and wind farms, there will still be a considerable shortfall," he says.
There is urgency in examining the options as negotiations, construction as well as public relations exercises to gain public support will take considerable time, he says. "At present many global energy firms are in talks with the ministry."
The construction of a nuclear power plant take about five years before it becomes operational. While Thailand has about 200 nuclear technicians, it will need more if the nuclear option is exercised. "Indonesia and Vietnam have opted to go nuclear," says Wannarat. "But the Philippines and Malaysia have not."
The minister admits that nuclear remain a highly sensitive issue and it required the support of local communities if it is to succeed.
"It cannot be achieved without the acceptance of the public," he told reporters in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
The government is keen to avoid a repeat of the 1986 tantalum plant fiasco in Phuket where a US$25-million (Bt840 million) facility was burnt to the ground when authorities ignored objections from angry villagers.
Violent clashes also often erupt at several botched attempts by authorities to impose power plants on provincial communities.
Deputy director-general of policy and planning Chavalit Pichalai concurs with Wannarat, saying "any nuclear proposal must be made trans-parent publicly if we hope to inspire confidence".
At Daya Bay, the largest nuclear facility in China's Guangdong province that powers much of the needs of Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories, executives at the enterprise took Wannarat on a thorough tour, which includes seeing the insides of a new nuclear plant.
China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding's vice chairnman chang Shanming showed the operations and training centres at the massive complex was among the world's "most modern, safest and efficient".
When the plant was conceived in 1984, one million people in Hong Kong - then under British rule - protested, one executive notes.
"Since it began operation 10 years ago, no big accident has taken place," says Jimmy Wang, general manager of China Nuclear Power Engineering. Wang who is a key member of the team was a 34-year veteran at Bechtel, the US giant that runs most of America's commercial nuclear plants.
The facility has also earned several awards. At its entrance, tree-lined apartments for 15,000 workers with landscaped parks projects an orderly run industrial estate. The radiation levels at he plant is actually lower than those outside, says Wang.
Wannarat says nuclear is a possible option as it does not emit carbod dioxide. But nuclear waste requires under-ground burial as it takes several hundred thousand years to decay.
CLP Power, the Hong Kong-based supplier of electricity, owns 25-per-cent of Daya Bay and buys most of its power. Its Thailand chief Peck Khamkanist says the Chinese group is keen to invest in Thailand.
Peck says CLP, which is already heavily invested in the Kingdom, also wants the ministry to consider using clean-coal. Atits facility at Black Point, CLP executives and the ministry's Dr Twarath Sutabutr, director of policy and strategy at the permanent secretary's office, show how lignite plants can be run more responsibly.
CLP waters its coal supply three hours daily to prevent dust from spewing outside. It ranks safety and corporate social responsibility as key strategies. Exxon is its key partner at the coal-fired plant.
The plant generates power for 2.2 million households, says CLP director general David Crighton.
The company is one of Hong Kong's most respected and oldest names. Its flagship properties include the Peninsula Hotel.
Dr Twarath says solar is becoming an important option as falling costs makes it an attractive choice.
A local delegate observes: "No one minds if you build a solar farm next door. But nobody wants a nuclear plant nearby."
A recent IAEA survey says while the technology is safe, opponents are more fearful some companies and governments lack the integrity to maintain sound standards.
"Thailand will face a shortage of natural gas in 15-20 years as local fields are being exhausted. This poses great concern as the country depends on gas to generate 70 per cent of electricity needs."
Wannarata says coal-fired plants provide 20 per cent while hydro, biogas, bomas and solar sources make up the rest. "Even with the push toward solar and wind farms, there will still be a considerable shortfall," he says.
There is urgency in examining the options as negotiations, construction as well as public relations exercises to gain public support will take considerable time, he says. "At present many global energy firms are in talks with the ministry."
The construction of a nuclear power plant take about five years before it becomes operational. While Thailand has about 200 nuclear technicians, it will need more if the nuclear option is exercised. "Indonesia and Vietnam have opted to go nuclear," says Wannarat. "But the Philippines and Malaysia have not."
The minister admits that nuclear remain a highly sensitive issue and it required the support of local communities if it is to succeed.
"It cannot be achieved without the acceptance of the public," he told reporters in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
The government is keen to avoid a repeat of the 1986 tantalum plant fiasco in Phuket where a US$25-million (Bt840 million) facility was burnt to the ground when authorities ignored objections from angry villagers.
Violent clashes also often erupt at several botched attempts by authorities to impose power plants on provincial communities.
Deputy director-general of policy and planning Chavalit Pichalai concurs with Wannarat, saying "any nuclear proposal must be made trans-parent publicly if we hope to inspire confidence".
At Daya Bay, the largest nuclear facility in China's Guangdong province that powers much of the needs of Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories, executives at the enterprise took Wannarat on a thorough tour, which includes seeing the insides of a new nuclear plant.
China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding's vice chairnman chang Shanming showed the operations and training centres at the massive complex was among the world's "most modern, safest and efficient".
When the plant was conceived in 1984, one million people in Hong Kong - then under British rule - protested, one executive notes.
"Since it began operation 10 years ago, no big accident has taken place," says Jimmy Wang, general manager of China Nuclear Power Engineering. Wang who is a key member of the team was a 34-year veteran at Bechtel, the US giant that runs most of America's commercial nuclear plants.
The facility has also earned several awards. At its entrance, tree-lined apartments for 15,000 workers with landscaped parks projects an orderly run industrial estate. The radiation levels at he plant is actually lower than those outside, says Wang.
Wannarat says nuclear is a possible option as it does not emit carbod dioxide. But nuclear waste requires under-ground burial as it takes several hundred thousand years to decay.
CLP Power, the Hong Kong-based supplier of electricity, owns 25-per-cent of Daya Bay and buys most of its power. Its Thailand chief Peck Khamkanist says the Chinese group is keen to invest in Thailand.
Peck says CLP, which is already heavily invested in the Kingdom, also wants the ministry to consider using clean-coal. Atits facility at Black Point, CLP executives and the ministry's Dr Twarath Sutabutr, director of policy and strategy at the permanent secretary's office, show how lignite plants can be run more responsibly.
CLP waters its coal supply three hours daily to prevent dust from spewing outside. It ranks safety and corporate social responsibility as key strategies. Exxon is its key partner at the coal-fired plant.
The plant generates power for 2.2 million households, says CLP director general David Crighton.
The company is one of Hong Kong's most respected and oldest names. Its flagship properties include the Peninsula Hotel.
Dr Twarath says solar is becoming an important option as falling costs makes it an attractive choice.
A local delegate observes: "No one minds if you build a solar farm next door. But nobody wants a nuclear plant nearby."
A recent IAEA survey says while the technology is safe, opponents are more fearful some companies and governments lack the integrity to maintain sound standards.
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