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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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Monday, 18 May 15
FOB NEWCASTLE COAL SWAPS SCORE MONTHLY GAINS
COALspot.com: API 5 FOB Newcastle Coal swap for Q3’ 2015 delivery gained US$ 0.87 per MT (1.99%) month over month and lost US$ 0.03 week on w ...
Monday, 18 May 15
Q1' 16 API 8 CFR SOUTH CHINA COAL SWAP CLOSED HIGHER THAN Q3' 15 CLOSING PRICE
COALspot.com: API 8 CFR South China Coal swap for Q3’ 2015 delivery up US$ 1.05 (2.10%) per MT month over month and US$ 0.53 (1.05%) pe ...
Sunday, 17 May 15
INDONESIA - INDIA FREIGHTS RATES EXPECTED TO FLAT TO SOFT NEXT WEEK
COALspot.com: The BDI was up by 10.45% and closed at 634 points week on week, while the Cape index saws big jump or up almost 55% for the same peri ...
Friday, 15 May 15
DRY BULK AND CONTAINER SHIPPING TO REMAIN WEAK, OUTLOOK FOR PORTS AND TANKERS POSITIVE - DREWRY MARITIME EQUITY RESEARCH
Global economy is in a gradual recovery mode, sending mixed signals to investors. Chinese economic data continues to remain weak as economy transit ...
Friday, 15 May 15
COAL PRODUCTION IN U.S DOWN 1.4 MILLION TONS FOR THE WEEK ENDING MAY 8
COALspot.com – United States the second largest coal producer in the world has produced approximately totaled an estimated 16.0 million short ...
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- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Planning Commission, India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Australian Coal Association
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- PTC India Limited - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- White Energy Company Limited
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- The University of Queensland
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
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