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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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Friday, 11 February 11
DRY BULK MARKET HEATING UP ON FRESH CARGO DEMAND - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
The dry bulk market is on a high this week, with owners of smaller vessels turning their attention towards the spot market, in order to take advanta ...
Thursday, 10 February 11
SUPRA RATES IMPROVED A LITTLE OVER US$ 6K BSS N. CHINA DELIVERY FOR INDO-INDIA AND THAILAND ROUNDS - FEARNBULK
Handy
Atl is still weak with little fresh enquiry and an accumulation of spot tonnage.Owners are reluctant to send tonnage thru Suez due to uncert ...
Thursday, 10 February 11
BUKIT ASAM EXPECTS ABOVE RP 3 TRIO PROFIT
The state-owned coal miner PT Tambang Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) expects to reach 2011's net profit above Rp 3 trillion (US$ 336,322,568) from above Rp2 ...
Wednesday, 09 February 11
INDONESIA ALLOWED 60 COAL TRADING COMPANIES TO EXPORT COAL
COALspot.com - A temporary ban imposed on coal traders in January has lifted this week. As of today 60coal trading companies were allowed to resume ...
Tuesday, 08 February 11
INDIA'S SIMHAPURU TARGETS S.AFRICAN COAL - ECONOMIC TIMES
Economic Times reported that, India's Simhapuri Energy , a unit of the Madhucon Group , wants to buy new or existing collieries in South Africa fro ...
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- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- The University of Queensland
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- PTC India Limited - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Australian Coal Association
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- White Energy Company Limited
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
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