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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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Tuesday, 26 October 10
INDONESIA SHIPPED 5.32 PERCENT LESS COAL IN SEPTEMBER 10
COALspot.com: Indonesia, the world largest coal exporter, shipped 21,661,817 MT of coal in September 2010, which is 5.32 percent lesser than Au ...
Tuesday, 26 October 10
DRY BULK MARKET TO KEEP RISING THIS WEEK ON STRONG CHINESE IRON ORE AND THERMAL COAL DEMAND - HELLENIC SHIPPING
Overcapacitated or not, the dry bulk market keeps its positive momentum as we move forward this week, with the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) rising by 0.77 ...
Monday, 25 October 10
TWO CHINESE COMPANIES INK DEAL TO TAP AUSSIE COAL RESERVES
China Daily reportd that, two Chinese coal firms have teamed up to explore and develop coal resources in an area in Australia that has forecast rese ...
Monday, 25 October 10
DRY BULK MARKET STILL HEAVILY DEPENDENT ON CHINA, POSTS SMALL WEEKLY LOSS OF 1.27% - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
With every twitch and turn from China’s metals industry, the dry bulk market is disproportionally affected, as evidenced by the course of the ...
Sunday, 24 October 10
SUPRAMAX VESSELS BEING FIXED AROUND $ 15 K PER DAY DELIVERY N. CHINA FOR TRIP VIA INDONESIA TO INDIA - VISTAAR SHIPPING
COALspot.com: The freight market this week remained almost at same levels with not much change. However the Far East/SE Asia market was quite soft w ...
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- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Australian Coal Association
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- White Energy Company Limited
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- The University of Queensland
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- PTC India Limited - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
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