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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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Sunday, 19 October 14
LOW DEMAND PUSHES DOWN COAL FREIGHT RATES; VOLATILITY CONTINUES
COALspot.com: This week all the segments softened including BDI except for Panamax index.
The BDI was down by1.70 pct and clsoed at 944 points ...
Friday, 17 October 14
INTERNATIONAL COAL PRICES ARE AT LOWEST LEVEL; COAL STOCKS AT INDIAN POWER PLANTS ARE ALSO AT LOWEST LEVEL
International coal prices as well as coal freights are falling and reaching to its lowest levels. According to PTI, fuel stockpiles at the thermal ...
Friday, 17 October 14
U.S. COAL PRODUCTION UP BY 3.6% WEEK - ON - WEEK
COALspot.com – United States the world's one of largest coal producers, produced approximately 19.20 million short tons (mmst) of coal in ...
Friday, 17 October 14
DRY BULK SHIPPING'S OUTLOOK NOW SHIFTING TO A LESS PROMISING ONE, SHIP PRICES EXPECTED TO FOLLOW SOON - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
China’s and other Asian countries’ return to the dry bulk market last week, didn’t trigger the hoped support towards the dry bulk ...
Thursday, 16 October 14
KOREA MIDLAND POWER TO BUY 490K MT OF LCV COAL FOR 1Q 2015
COALspot.com : Korea Midland Power Co., Ltd. has invited bids through International open bidding for 490,000 Metric Tons (MT) of LCV (Sub) Bitumino ...
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- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- The University of Queensland
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Planning Commission, India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- White Energy Company Limited
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Australian Coal Association
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- PTC India Limited - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
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