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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, 24 June 10
DRY BULK MARKET AT LOWEST POINT IN EIGHT MONTHS
The dry bulk market’s demise has failed to turn around so far this week, with the industry’s benchmark, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI), yest ...
Wednesday, 23 June 10
WILHELMSEN SHIPS SERVICE OPENS NEW OFFICE IN KRISHNAPATNAM PORT INDIA
Wilhelmsen Ships Service has opened a branch office in Krishnapatnam port on the east coast of India according to statement released by company ...
Wednesday, 23 June 10
PTC'S INDONESIAN COAL-MINING FORAY-I: TO INVEST USD 69 MILLION VIA OVERSEAS SPV
Moving ahead with its plans to acquire coal assets abroad, the power trading major, PTC India Limited, has decided to invest a total of USD 69 milli ...
Tuesday, 22 June 10
INDIA HAS REPORTED MORE COAL IMPORTS FROM COLOMBIA
A second consecutive week of sharp corrections for the dry bulk market, although some of the softness could be attributed to Chinese holidays at the ...
Monday, 21 June 10
THE SUPRAMAX INDEX IN THE FAR-EAST (S6 ROUTE) WAS DOWN BY $ 1300 PER DAY - VISTAAR
COALspot.com: The market continued to soften in all sectors last week also with the BDI dropping by 18.07 pct and Cape index by 26.71 pct.
The BD ...
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- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Planning Commission, India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- VISA Power Limited - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- White Energy Company Limited
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- The University of Queensland
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Australian Coal Association
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
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