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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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Saturday, 07 December 13
A RARE TIME IN RECENT SHIPPING MARKET HISTORY: BOTH DRY BULK AND VLCC TANKER EARNINGS ARE ON THE RISE - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
Around this time of year, back in 2008, i.e. five years ago, the shipping markets were plagued with the aftermath of the global financial crisis tha ...
Friday, 06 December 13
INDONESIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTED A GOVERNMENT PROPOSAL TO EASE THE BAN ON EXPORTING UNPROCESSED ORE
COALspot.com: Indonesian House of Representatives rejected a proposal from Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik on to ease the ban on ex ...
Friday, 06 December 13
THE MINISTRY OF ENERGY & MINERAL RESOURCES OF INDONESIA FIXED DEC'13 HBA AT US$ 80.31
COALspot.com - The Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources of Indonesia has increased government declared coal bench mark price by US$ 2.18 / MT ...
Friday, 06 December 13
US PRODUCED APPROXIMATELY 82.8 MILLION SHORT TONS OF COAL IN NOVEMBER 2013
COALspot.com – United States the world’s second largest coal producer, produced approximately 19.00 million short tons (mmst) of coal in ...
Friday, 06 December 13
PANAMAXES HAVE BEEN THE ' WEAPON OF CHOICE' BY MOST DRY BULK SHIP OWNERS DURING 2013 - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
Low ship prices, the direct consequence of subdued freight rates for the larger part of 2013 have been the main driving force behind this year's ag ...
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- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- VISA Power Limited - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- PTC India Limited - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- White Energy Company Limited
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Australian Coal Association
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- The University of Queensland
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
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