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MANILA: Coal exports from the country's largest coal producer, Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC), surged by 78 percent in the first quarter (Q1) of the year compared to the same period in 2023. SMPC held its annual stockholders' meeting Monday, reporting its performance from January to March 2024. The total coal exports of the listed firm in Q1 rose to 2.7 million metric tons (MMT) from 1.5 MMT in Q1 2023. The robust coal outbound shipment has driven up SMPC's total coal sales, which grew by 37 percent to 4.8 MMT in Q1 this year from 3.5 MMT in the previous year. Domestic shipment also grew by 6 percent to 2.1 MMT from 2 MMT. SMPC said it reached its highest overall plant availability at 92 percent, backing the uptick in internal sales. 'While we faced some pricing challenges this quarter, our robust export sales and improved plant performance demonstrate the resilience and adaptability of our operations,' SMPC president and chief operating officer Maria Cristina Gotianun said. 'Global coal indice s declined due to weak demand from developed countries, driven by changes in energy policies, a shift toward renewable sources and slowing economic activities,' SMPC said in its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange. SMPC also uses its own coal to fuel its power plants, the lone power producer in the country that integrated its coal mining and power operations to create a local value chain. SMPC's power plants increased their electricity sales volume by 3 percent in Q1 2024 to 1,281 gigawatt hours (GWh) from 1,241 GWh. 'This growth was primarily due to higher bilateral contract quantity sales, which offset the decline in spot market dispatch for the period,' the firm said. Meanwhile, SMPC's net income fell by 28 percent to PHP6.5 billion for the January to March 2024 period from PHP9 billion in the same period a year ago. The company's lower profit in the first three months of the year is due to lower coal prices in the global market and lower selling price in the electricity spot market. As a coa l miner and power company, SMPC remits royalty payment to the government that benefits both national and local government units that are hosting the firm's facilities. Source: Philippines News Agency