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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, 13 January 15
MORE PITFALLS FOR OWNERS LOOKING TO TERMINATE FOR UNPAID HIRE - INCE & CO
KNOWLEDGE TO ELEVATE
It is a debatable point whether or not the obligation to pay hire under a time charter is a condition of the contract or ...
Tuesday, 13 January 15
Q2 CFR SOUTH CHINA COAL SWAP DECLINED 8.66% M-O-M
COALspot.com: API 8 CFR South China Coal swap for Q1’ 2015 delivery declined by US$ 3.48 (-5.73%) month over month and US$ 2.35 (-3.94%) week ...
Tuesday, 13 January 15
Q1' 2015 RICHARDS BAY COAL SWAP SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN Q2 & Q4 2015 SWAPS
COALspot.com: API 4 FOB Richards Bay Coal swap for delivery Q1' 2015 lost month on month and week over week.
The Q1 swap has lost US$ 7.21 ...
Monday, 12 January 15
COAL: LOW PRICES ARE EXPECTED TO DRIVE A SUPPLY-DRIVEN RECOVERY IN THE MEDIUM TERM - SGX
COALspot.com: Thermal coal prices dropped to six-year lows in 2014 driven by persistent oversupply, SGX says in its “ Commodities 2014 - A ye ...
Monday, 12 January 15
FREIGHT MARKET: 2015 FLEET SUPPLY GROWTH IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN SLIGHTLY AHEAD OF CARGO GROWTH - SGX
COALspot.com: The dry bulk freight market was forced to digest a number of negatives in 2014 leading the Baltic Dry Index to fall 66% through the y ...
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- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
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- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
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- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
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- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
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- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
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- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
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- White Energy Company Limited
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- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- VISA Power Limited - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Australian Coal Association
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Planning Commission, India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
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