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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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Wednesday, 27 November 13
SHIP OWNERS ONCE AGAIN TURN TO DRY BULK CARRIERS - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
Ship owners once again turned to more dry bulk carrier ordering over the course of the past week, as more and more appear convinced of the industry ...
Tuesday, 26 November 13
EWP INVITES COAL BIDS FOR 2014 - 2018 DELIVERIES
COALspot.com: Korea East-West Power Co. Ltd (EWP) invited bids to supply 130,000MT of min 5,600kcal/kg (Sub)-bituminous Coal on NCV basis for March ...
Tuesday, 26 November 13
NEWCASTLE COAL EXPORTS SLIP 22.62% W-W
COALspot.com: In the week ended November 25, power plant and semi-soft coking coal shipments from the port of Newcastle in Queensland, totalled 2.26 ...
Monday, 25 November 13
THE SUB-BIT INDONESIA COAL SWAP MOVEMENT IN YEAR 2014 IS STILL FAR FROM PROMISING
COALspot.com – Sub-Bit Indonesia coal swap (FOB ) for average Q1’ 14 delivery gained $ 2.54 pmt month on month on Friday 22 Novemb ...
Sunday, 24 November 13
CFR SOUTH CHINA COAL SWAPS FOR Q4' 14 DELIVERY PRICE SHOWS A NEGATIVE TREND WEEK ON WEEK AND FLAT ON D-D
COALspot.com : API 8 CFR South China Coal swaps for average Q1’ 14 delivery gained 0.13 percept d-d on Friday 22 November 2013. The CFR South ...
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- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- PTC India Limited - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Australian Coal Association
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Planning Commission, India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- The University of Queensland
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
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