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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, 10 November 13
PANAMAX COAL FREIGHT RATES REMAIN UNDER PRESSURE; SUPRAMAX BIGGEST GAINER - REDDY
COALspot.com: The freight market was up this week with all indices increased except for Panamax index.
The BDI was up by 56 points closing at 158 ...
Friday, 08 November 13
DRY BULK MARKET BOUNCES BACK ON RENEWED DEMAND - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
The dry bulk market staged a mild comeback this week, as the industry's benchmark, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) inched forward step by step and bit b ...
Friday, 08 November 13
US'S OCTOBER COAL PRODUCTION INCREASED BY 1.78% M-M - EIA
COALspot.com – United States the world’s second largest coal producer, produced approximately 19.3 million short tons (mmst) of coal in ...
Thursday, 07 November 13
FORMOSA PLASTICS SEEKS 80K MT OF 5850 GAR COAL
COALspot.com: Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Group is inviting bids for 80,000 mt of bituminous coal for delivery in Nov - Dec'13 for its Chi ...
Thursday, 07 November 13
INDONESIAN COAL EXPORT VOLUME INCREASED; REVENUE DECREASED
COALspot.com: Indonesia, the 15th largest economy, 4th largest coal producer in the world and world's largest multi grade coal exporter shipp ...
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- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Australian Coal Association
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- VISA Power Limited - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- The University of Queensland
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Planning Commission, India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- White Energy Company Limited
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
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