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Sunday, 20 June 10
OUR COAL: ITS DEVELOPMENT AND CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES
 Indonesia’s production of coal has been growing amazingly. In the mid 1980s, national coal production was less than 1 million tons per annum, whereas energy planners (in the fourth Five Year Development Plan: 1989-1994) pointed at 10 million tons as the national production target.
The current production has jumped dramatically, recorded as 237 million tons in 2008 (predicted to achieve 270 million tons this year), making Indonesia a world class producer and the largest exporter of coal around the globe. The skyrocketing growth of our coal production has also incited many controversial issues.
Coal is considered as the dirtiest among fossil fuels, making environmentalists oppose their wide use
as fuel.
However, the proposal for ceasing use of coal — power generation, for instance — would be challenged by power utilities demanding low cost fuel that coal may offer and by the government, which has the responsibility to provide electricity as well as have revenue from exploiting its energy resources.
Despite the world’s rising anxiety of global warming, IEA (International Energy Agency: World Energy Outlook 2009) statistics shows that the world consumption for coal, for the last decade, is still growing the fastest among primary energy sources.
The environmental problem associated with coal in Indonesia is not limited to green houses gases (GHG), but also damage and pollution since its exploitation, transportation and uses to post mining.
It is easy to find where many coal fields are not mined appropriately according to “good mining and environmental practices”, coal transportation is not considering safety standards and is damaging rivers, (public) roads and seashores.
The coal mining has polluted the land, water and air of especially Kalimantan, where more than 90 percent of Indonesia’s coal mining operations take place.
It is sad that many of the previous mining areas have been abandoned without being properly reclaimed, whereas thousands of hectares of the island’s tropical forests have been converted into desert.
The soaring exploitation, including its negative impact on the environment, has a strong correlation with the number of licensing/permits awarded.
The introduction of the 1999 Regional Autonomy Law, subsequently followed by the 1999 Fiscal Balancing Law between the Central and Regional Governments have — to some degree — impacted on the coal licensing regime, where larger authorities had been given to regional/local governments.
Under the new licensing regime by local governments, requirements for coal permits tend to be relaxed whereas monitoring has not been done properly.
As a result, the number of permits (Mining Authorization/KP) has been growing considerably (currently 462, of which 169 are producing), coal production increases, but also environmental problems and the issues of illegal mining exist.
The question of who really owns the KP licenses exists, which was defined as that it can be owned by Indonesian national/companies only.
While the largest part of coal in Indonesia are being produced by large companies (the holders of Coal Contract of Work/PKP2B), some coal is mined by small scale and illegal miners.
It is believed that a significant amount of coal has been produced by illegal miners (some 5 million tons annually) and part has gone to meet export demand.
Wherever in the world, illegal miners lack interest in responsible mining and mine rehabilitation practices. Illegal mining is a problem for potential investors, the environment and government revenues.
The government has introduced measures to crack down on problems, including arresting illegal miners.
However, it cannot be the only solution since illegal mining is actually rooted in underemployment, local poverty and weak law enforcement, while the number of people involved in these activities is quite significant.
An alternative to confrontation to illegal miners by the central government (who awards the large scale PKP2B mining license) should be a cooperative and more comprehensive approach.
“Despite the world’s anxiety of global warming, IEA statistics shows that the world consumption for coal is still growing the fastest among primary energy sources.”
Work together with local/rural governments and communities to reduce poverty, educate/assist the illegal miners to increase their awareness on good mining practices (including mine rehabilitation), provide transition period fiscal incentives to encourage illegal mining toward the regulated mining sector, among others.
It needs to maintain an appropriate balance between the soaring exports of coal (about three quarters of production on average) and the domestic growing demand for the same fuel.
Push for exports is still coming largely from the traditional East Asians (Japan is the largest), while the coal-hungry India and China are also increasing their demand for our coal.
The exports will be competed with by the Blue Print for Energy Management 2005-2025 pointing out that one third of Indonesia’s energy primary energy mix in 2025 is to be supplied by coal, (the current share is about 15 percent).
Even though it is often mentioned that our coal reserves are quite large (current proven reserves of 5.5 billion tons; estimated resources of 105 tones) and that our reserves for coal are much larger than that of oil and gas, we should watch their fast rate of exploitation cautiously.
It needs to recalculate the benefit of exploiting them, taking into account their damage to the environment and what is left post mining. Where have all the revenues from exploiting that coal gone? Is the escalating export not jeopardizing the domestic energy security in the near future?
We have ample experiences, for instance in exploiting the resources-rich Kalimantan. The forests, oil and gas reserves have been exploited for about four to five decades, but it seems that the island has not enjoyed the fruits of the excessive exploitation: the current regional economy remains weak, infrastructure is poor and energy supplies for local uses have not been secured.
It needs to promote the terms “resources balance, depletion, sustainability”, start internalizing the costs of environmental impact and enforce those concepts into workable policies for our coal mining development.
The writer is the senior energy planner and an economist with the National Development Planning Agency. The opinions expressed are his own.
Source: The Jakarta Post ( Hanan Nugroho)
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Wednesday, 20 July 11
DRY BULK MARKET KEEPS ON FALLING ON SOFTENING CONDITIONS - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
The dry bulk market retreated to lower ground on Tuesday, as the industry’s benchmark, the BDI (Baltic Dry Index) fell to 1,330 points, down b ...
Tuesday, 19 July 11
82 MIO TONS OF COAL TO BE SUPPLIED FOR DOMESTIC MARKET
Indonesian Coal miners were required to supply 82 million tons of coal to Domestic market in this year. This is a 2.53 percent higher than last year ...
Monday, 18 July 11
IMFA BUYS A INDONESIAN COAL MINE FOR USD 8.7 M
Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys (IMFA), the largest producer of ferro chrome in the country, today said it has acquired 70 per cent stake in an Indones ...
Sunday, 17 July 11
THE COAL PRICES ARE SOFTENING DUE TO LESS DEMAND - VISTAAR
COALspot.com: The markets were down last week with BDI down by 6.63 points and closing at 1,353 points. The most affected was Cape index which was d ...
Friday, 15 July 11
DRY BULK MARKET SUFFERS NEW BLOW, RETREATS EVEN FURTHER - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
The dry bulk market fell even lower yesterday on the back of lower demand for larger vessels, like Capesizes and Panamaxes. The industry’s ben ...
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- Minerals Council of Australia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- PTC India Limited - India
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Planning Commission, India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Australian Coal Association
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
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