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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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Thursday, 18 November 10
MUNDRA PORT AWARDED BEST PRIVATE PORT - COMMODITY ONLINE / HELLENIC SHIPPING
Adani Group owned, Mundra Port has been awarded the Annual Indian Maritime Gateway Award for the Best Private Port of the Year for the third consecu ...
Wednesday, 17 November 10
DRY BULK MARKET LOOKING FOR SUPPORT IN COAL TRADES AND INDIAN IRON ORE EXPORTS - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping reported that, the dry bulk market is lacking support to end its 13-day slide, as evidenced by Monday’s ...
Tuesday, 16 November 10
'VALLAR PLC' TO BECOME 'BUMI PLC' POST DEAL - THE JAKARTA POST
The Jakarta Post reported that, The United Kingdom’s Vallar Plc will change its name to Bumi Plc following a cash and stock transaction with t ...
Tuesday, 16 November 10
ROTHSCHILD BUYS INDONESIAN COAL STAKES FOR $3 BILLION - BLOOMBERG
Bloomberg reported that, Nathaniel Rothschild, the only son of U.K. financier Jacob Rothschild, agreed to invest $3 billion in two Indonesian coal c ...
Sunday, 14 November 10
THE FREIGHT MARKET CONTINUED ITS DOWN FALL - VISTAAR SINGAPORE
COALspot.com: The freight market continued its down fall with BDI down by 7.29 pct and closed at 2,313 points.
All other segments were also under ...
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- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Australian Coal Association
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- The University of Queensland
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Planning Commission, India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
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