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State-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) will bid out another
tranche of fuel supply for the country’s coal-fired power plants.
In recently released bid notices, Napocor has
invited potential bidders to vie for the coal supply of its three
generating facilities—65,000 metric tons for 700-megawatt Pagbilao,
130,000 metric tons for 1,200-megawatt Sual and 65,000 metric tons
for 600-megawatt Masinloc.
The coal supply, which will be bid out in early
June for Pagbilao and Sual and in late May for Masinloc, will cover
the power plants’ fuel requirements for the coming months.
Napocor said the price for the facilities’
fuel supply contract shall be based on the latest published market
reference rates such as Platts, Barlow Jonker and Global Coal at a
foreign exchange rate of P44.30 to a dollar.
Prior to using benchmark indices at the start of
the year, Napocor had set price limits on its coal supply contracts.
This practice, however, failed to attract bidders because of the
increasing price of coal in the world market and forced Napocor to
adopt market prices.
Last March, Napocor auctioned off more than
P10-billion worth of supply contracts for the fuel needs of the coal
plants.
The hefty amount Napocor shelled out for the
fuel supply of the power plants this summer came at a time when coal
prices have been on an uptrend, more than double from last year,
because of tight supply brought about by logistics problems and
growing demand worldwide compounded by weather disturbances.
Data from Global Coal Ltd’s weekly coal index
for Australia’s Newcastle port, a benchmark for the Asian market,
showed that the price of the commodity has risen to $134.85 per
metric ton last May 16 after averaging $126.45 per metric ton in
April.
On the other hand, the Indonesian Coal Price
Index pegged high-grade coal prices at $113.89 per barrel. Indonesia
is the world’s largest thermal coal exporting country.
-- Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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