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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, 11 August 14
INDONESIAN THERMAL COAL SWAPS SEEING SOME POSITIVE TREND
COALspot.com: Indonesian coal swaps for average September 2014 increased US$ 0.20 (+0.36%) day on day and US$ 1.30 (+2.41%) per mt week on week. Th ...
Monday, 11 August 14
SGX CFR SOUTH CHINA COAL SWAPS DIRECTION HEADING TO NORTH
COALspot.com: API 8 CFR South China Coal swap for delivery in September 2014 increased US$ 0.50 (+0.74%) day on day and US$ 1.55 (+2.33%)&nbs ...
Monday, 11 August 14
A TALE OF TWO TRADES - EVA TZIMA
COALspot.com: It has without a doubt been “a cruel, cruel summer” for the Dry Bulk market so far and with second hand values still stan ...
Sunday, 10 August 14
FREIGHT RATES FROM INDONESIA TO INDIA IS EXPECTED TO BE STEADY NEXT WEEK - VISTAAR
COALspot.com: This week the BDI and other segments saw some improvements. The BDI increased by 3.46 pct week on week and closed at 777 points.
...
Friday, 08 August 14
MINING DISPUTE IS CRIPPLING LOCAL ECONOMIES IN EASTERN INDONESIA - JG
- By Iwan Harsono -
It seems as if there’s no end in sight to the series of negotiations between the government and mining companies about ...
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- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Planning Commission, India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- PTC India Limited - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Australian Coal Association
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- The University of Queensland
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- White Energy Company Limited
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