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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, 30 December 14
INDIA INC TO BENEFIT AS IMPORTED COAL PRICES SET TO FALL - RAHUL PRITHIANI
The Hindu: India‘s coal import volumes are set to rise by over 30 per cent over the next two years to 214 million tonnes in 2015-16, as domes ...
Tuesday, 30 December 14
U.S WEEKLY COAL PRODUCTION ALMOST FLAT AT -0.2%
COALspot.com – United States the world's one of the largest coal producers, produced approximately 19.8 million short tons (mmst) of coal ...
Monday, 29 December 14
CHINESE COAL IMPORTS: REGULATORY RISKS? - CLARKSONS
In recent years, Chinese seaborne coal imports have surged, registering average growth of 67% p.a. between 2009 and 2013 to total 265mt. However, t ...
Monday, 29 December 14
BULK MARKET ENDS YEAR ON SOUR NOTE, SHIPBROKER SEES 'BUMPY ROAD AHEAD' - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
2014 was supposed to be the year that the dry bulk market would stage a comeback and a sustainable one for that matter. However, while for the most ...
Monday, 29 December 14
Q1'15 CFR SOUTH CHINA COAL SWAP CLOSED AT $59.42
COALspot.com: API 8 CFR South China Coal swap for Q1’ 2015 delivery has decreased by US$ 3.51 (-5.58%) month over month and US$ 0.08 (-0.13%) ...
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- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
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- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
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- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
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- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
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- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
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- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Economic Council, Georgia
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- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Planning Commission, India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Australian Coal Association
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- The University of Queensland
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
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